7. Roman Blake
When Melissa stepped into my villa this time, it felt different.
Earlier, she came over stiff, nervous, carrying guilt and fear on her shoulders. Now she was softer, still guarded, but there was something else there too. Something like a decision she had already made before she knocked on my door.
I closed it behind her and watched her move farther into the room. She had on a simple little romper, nothing loud, but it sat on her body right. Too right. My eyes dragged down and then back up before I caught myself.
“You ate?” she asked, turning just enough to look at me over her shoulder.
I shrugged. “Not really.”
She nodded like that was the answer she expected. “Me neither.”
“You wanna order something, or you want the food from earlier?” I asked.
“We can do whatever,” she said. “But to be truthful, I didn’t really come over here for food.”
She said it casual, but I heard everything underneath it.
I felt it too.
I took a few steps closer, not touching her yet. “What you come over here for then?”
She held my gaze for a second, then glanced away like she was trying to gather her words. “I just… did not feel like being by myself tonight.”
That landed.
Because I understood that more than she knew.
“Cool,” I said, keeping my voice even. “You ain’t by yourself no more.”
Her eyes came back to mine at that.
I grabbed my phone, ordered us some food anyway, and then tossed it on the counter. The two of us ended up on the couch, her on one end, me on the other. It felt stupid how aware I was of the space between us.
We talked while we waited. Nothing too deep at first. Little shit. The drinks at the bar. The people on the resort. Her calling some of the rich guests “off-brand movie stars.” That made me laugh harder than I wanted to admit.
But even when we were laughing, the tension sat there.
Thick, quiet, and waiting for something to go down.
The food came and gave us something to do with our hands. I made her a plate, and she tried to act like she did not care, but I caught the way her eyes softened for a second before she covered it up with attitude.
“Thank you,” she mumbled.
“You welcome,” I told her.
We ate, talked, and by the time we were done, it was dark outside. The only light in the villa came from the lamps and the flicker from the TV I had turned on without really watching.
Melissa leaned back against the couch, her legs tucked under her, her eyes on the screen but her mind clearly somewhere else.
“You good?” I asked.
She nodded, then shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“At least you honest.”
That pulled a small smile out of her.
I studied her face for a moment. “You still thinking about last night?”
“Yeah,” she admitted. “But not just that.”
“What else then?”
She hesitated, and I could see the fight in her eyes. The side of her that wanted to keep everything surface-level was wrestling with the part that wanted to finally tell the truth.
“Everything,” she finally said. “Home. My dad. All the shit I went through with Jordan. Me ending up here. You ending up here. The fact that I almost…” She trailed off and sucked in a breath. “I just feel like life has not been letting up on me for a long time, and I am tired.”
I sat forward, looking her in her eyes. “You ever let yourself be tired around somebody else, or you always hold that shit in?”
She looked at me like she did not know whether to be annoyed or impressed. “You always asking these deep-ass questions?”
“Only when I feel like I need the answer.”
She shifted a little, then dropped her eyes. “I do not like feeling weak in front of people.”
“That ain’t weakness,” I said. “You human.”
She looked back up at me. “You let people see you like that?”
“Don’t nobody see me like nothing unless I want them to,” I said honestly. “But I got people I can bleed around when I need to.”
“Must be nice,” she mumbled.
I tilted my head. “You got Charlee. Fee. Your people.”
“That is different,” she said quickly. “They know what I tell them. They do not know everything. Some shit I keep to myself.”
“Like what?”
She inhaled slowly, then exhaled like she was letting go of something.
“Like how scared I am that if I really let myself care about somebody again, I am gone lose my mind if it goes left,” she said quietly. “Like how I do not trust myself not to choose wrong again. Like how sometimes I feel like I attract the worst type of shit and I am the common denominator.”
Her voice cracked just a little on that last part.
That hit me straight in the chest.
“You not the problem,” I said, my tone leaving no room for argument.
She laughed under her breath, but it sounded tired. “You don’t even know me like that.”
“Melissa,” I said, and waited until her eyes met mine. “I know enough to tell you this…you not some curse walking around fucking your own life up. Life did you dirty. People did you dirty. That is not the same thing as you being the problem.”
She blinked a few times like she was trying to keep tears from falling.
I did not call her on it.
I let her have her pride.
“I hate feeling like this,” she admitted. “I hate feeling like I am always bracing myself for the next bad thing.”
I understood that on a level she did not even know yet.
I sat back, looking at her. “You do know it is okay to want something soft, right? Even after everything you been through.”
She swallowed. “Soft gets you hurt.”
“Nah,” I said. “The wrong nigga gets you hurt. Soft is just what you wanted to give to the wrong person.”
She stared at me for a long second, then let out a breathy laugh that sounded a little broken. “You really think you know everything.”
“I don’t,” I said. “But I know I ain’t him.”
The room got quiet again, but it was a different kind of quiet… heavy and close.
I did not move at first. I just watched her. The way her chest rose and fell. The way her fingers picked at the seam of the pillow. The way her eyes kept finding mine and then running from them.
“Come here,” I said softly, causing her to freeze.
“What?”
“You heard what I said Melissa.”
She hesitated for a second longer, then slowly pushed herself off her side of the couch and moved closer. When she sat next to me, it felt like the air in the room shifted again.
I lifted my arm, and after a beat, she leaned into me. Her head rested against my shoulder, her body warm against my side. I wrapped my arm around her and let my hand settle on her hip.
For a minute, neither of us said anything.
We just breathed.
I could feel some of the tension draining out of her, little by little. Like her body did not want to relax, but it did not have the strength to keep fighting either.
“You good?” I asked quietly.
She nodded against me. “I am… better than I was last night.”
“I’ll take that,” I said.
She let out a tiny laugh.
Her fingers slid down, brushing my thigh lightly, like she did not even realize she was touching me more, but I realized it.
Every cell in my body realized it.
I looked down at her, studying her. The way her lashes laid against her cheeks. The curve of her nose. The fullness of her lips.
“Melissa,” I said.
She hummed a little in response but did not move.
“You know I would never let nothing happen to you, right?” I asked.
She opened her eyes and turned her head just enough to look up at me. “You cannot promise that.”
“I can promise I’ll die trying,” I said simply.
Something passed over her face then. Fear. Want. Shock. Softness.
All at once.
“That is exactly the kind of shit that scares me,” she whispered.
“What? Somebody meaning it?”
“Yeah.”
We just looked at each other, and I knew if I did not pull back right then, I was not going to.
“Tell me to back up,” I said.
She frowned slightly. “What?”
“If you do not want this, tell me to back up.”
I gave her the chance because I needed to know she was choosing this. Choosing me. Not just reacting off fear or gratitude or pain.
Her eyes dropped to my mouth, then came back up.
She did not say a word.
That was my answer.
I slid my hand from her hip up to her jaw, my thumb brushing her cheek as I leaned in. This time, I did not stop.
When my mouth met hers, it felt like finally.
She tasted like the remnants of wine and something sweet that was all her.
She kissed me back almost immediately, no hesitation once that first line was crossed. Her hand came up to my chest, then my neck, fingers curling into my skin like she was pulling me closer without realizing it.
I let myself feel it.
The way she melted into me. The way her soft little sounds slipped out between kisses. The way her body shifted, one of her legs sliding over mine like it was the most natural move in the world.
My self-control thinned fast.
I deepened the kiss, angling my head to get more of her, my hand sliding down the curve of her back. She made this low sound in her throat that hit me straight in my chest and lower.
“Roman,” she breathed against my mouth.
“Yeah,” I said, my forehead resting against hers for a second.
Her eyes were a little hazy now, her lips slightly swollen, her breathing uneven.
“Tell me to stop,” I said again, voice rough.
She shook her head the slightest bit. “I don’t want to.”
That was all I needed to hear.
I stood, pulling her up with me, keeping my hands on her so she did not wobble. I searched her face one more time for any sign of doubt.
All I saw was want.
So I led her toward the bedroom.
Every step felt like crossing another invisible line, and I knew there was no going back from this. Not for me.
When we got to the bed, she looked at me like she was still a little unsure… not about wanting me, but about herself, about what this meant.
I stepped in close, cupped her face with both hands, and kissed her slower this time. Softer.
“I got you,” I said against her lips.
Her hands slid up my chest, hooking around my neck as she kissed me back like she believed me.
The rest of it was a blur of heat and softness and the kind of need I had not felt in a long time.
I was careful with her, even when it got intense.
Every sound she made, every little flinch, every breath… I paid attention to all of it.
I wanted her to feel wanted and safe even in the middle of all the hunger, I was still there.
Still aware. Still holding her and kissing all over her body softly.
Lately I had been just fucking and ducking bitches, but with Melissa I wanted to make love and that was exactly what was going down.
I continued to look into her eyes while I eased down her body.
And ended up at her navel where I placed softer kisses in a circular motion before stopping to look down at her pretty pussy.
The sight of it turned me on even more which made me jump right in tongue first. I licked kissed sucked and enjoyed the sweet taste of her wetness.
I knew she was enjoying every bit of this because, at some point, her fingers dug into my shoulders and she said my name in a way that snatched the air out of my lungs.
Not angry. Not annoyed, but needy and trusting.
That shit right there did some shit to me.
Once I brought her to her first climax with my tongue.
I made my way back up to her face stared in her eyes and kissed her hungrily before I eased my erection in her wetness.
I could see the little wince in her eyes.
“Are you good? Do you want me to stop?” She shook her head no and I just took my time until I was all the way in.
Once I was in her pussy gripped my shit like it was made just for her.
I knew Melissa was going to be a problem, but I also knew something worth having didn’t come easy.
I pushed my thoughts to the back of my head and started moving in and out of her in a slow motion making sure to hit every spot she had.
I was just learning her, but the way she was wetting my dick up I already knew I was hitting every spot right.
“Damn Melissa,” I moaned out in pleasure feeling my nut rise. I was about to ask her to cum with me, but the way her body shook. I already knew she was climaxing causing me to cum right behind her.
By the time it was over and we were both laid out, breathing heavy in the dark, I knew exactly what I had done to myself. I had crossed a line I could not uncross.
Melissa was on her side facing away from me, one hand tucked under her cheek, her breathing starting to slow. I reached out and slid my arm around her waist without even thinking about it.
She did not pull away.
If anything, she sank back into me.
Nothing was said and to be honest nothing needed to be said. But while she drifted, my mind was wide awake.
I stared at the ceiling, my chest still rising and falling a little too fast, my hand spread across her stomach like I was staking a claim I had no business making.
I should have been thinking about what this meant, how messy this could get, how much she said she did not want nothing serious.
Instead, all I could think was one thing.
She is mine now.
The thought came so natural it scared me for half a second.
Then I accepted it.
Because it was already true for me, whether she knew it yet or not.
I pulled her a little closer, pressed my face into her hair, and let my eyes close.
Yeah… I was gone.
And I had a feeling this was only the beginning of the kind of trouble loving Melissa was about to bring out of me.