by Gigi Thomas
“Maybe, we should just go to sleep,” Kenya said, looking over at Caden. He sat on the edge of the bed like a child who’d just learned there was no Santa Claus.
“Or,” he began, turning to face her, his eyes still not meeting hers. “We could just practice more.”
Caden hooked his arm around her leg, and Kenya squealed in surprise as he pulled her toward him. The force of the movement threw her onto her back, so she lay horizontally across the bed. With that he wrapped his arms around her thighs and buried his face between them.
Caden began devouring her with the relish of a death row inmate consuming his last meal. He tilted his head, kissing her lips as if it were her mouth, his tongue pleasing her with alternating short teasing tastes and long savory strokes. The feeling of his mouth against her was so intense that Kenya began backing away to catch her breath. Caden just secured his arms around her thighs, pulling her back to him and restraining her hips in position. There was no escape now, though escape was the last thing Kenya wanted at present.
“Aww, yes!”
Kenya closed her eyes, her hips rocking against him, her hand feeling the damp spikes of his buzzed hair. She pulled his mouth closer, and her fingertips began stroking his hairline at the nape of his neck. She felt the vibration of Caden’s moaning tickling inside her. He responded by renewing his labor, thus coercing more sounds of pleasure from her with his zealous tongue.
Kenya gasped, throwing her head back in ecstasy. There were benefits to the castle’s stone walls and curtained canopy beds, she realized, clutching the velvet bedspread with one hand and clinging to one of the four-poster bed’s velvet drapes with the other. She’d been biting her lips, but her moans were becoming more pronounced due to Caden’s oral exercise. Kenya’s body went stiff, and she let out a long high-pitched moan. Since the soles of her feet rested on Caden’s shoulders, the pressure of her climax lifted her hips from the bed. As her body quaked in his grasp, Caden’s tongue dove deeper licking and sucking her dry until Kenya collapsed on the bed.
Her breaths were jagged, and her legs were melting into liquid. Caden’s mouth gently kissed and nipped at her skin as he made his way up her stomach, pausing for a few minutes to languish on her breasts. He moved higher, kissing and sucking her neck until finally reuniting her mouth with his. Lying with his hips between her thighs, he kissed her hungrily.
“Yaya,” he whispered, kissing her neck, his hand caressing her thigh. “I love... Let me make love to you tonight. Just like this,” he said, stroking his naked erection against her pulsing entrance. Her hips were rocking with anticipation as he teased her there.
Kenya swallowed hard, realizing what Caden was asking. Having sex with Caden again was one thing. But, even if he’d been a saint these five years, to throw all thoughts of condoms out of the window was insane. Why on earth would he think that she would risk repeating the past? Because, she was horny? No way! When she looked up to ask him what level of crazy he was on, Kenya was startled by the yearning in his emerald eyes.
”Okay,” she whispered.
“Don’t worry. I won’t get you pregnant this time,” Caden said with a wry smile.
Was that supposed to be funny? And, did she just say, yes? Just as Kenya began to wonder what level of crazy she was on for agreeing to this, Caden brought his lips to hers in a passionate kiss, and she felt him enter her. Her breath hitched, and she gripped his shoulders, her muscles tightening as she did.
“Blimey, Yaya.” Caden paused, his eyes closed as if he needed a moment.
She had forgotten how big Caden was, and Kenya realized how long she’d really gone without sex. It was as if this last half-hour meant nothing, and her body just tightened up again. Caden didn’t rush, and they both laid there clinging to each other for a bit. Kenya had a chance to adjust to the feeling of him insider her, and her breaths began to go in pace with his.
“Ahh, you feel bloody amazing,” Caden whispered against her ear, as he slowly began to move inside her.
He brought his lips to hers in a slow and deliberate kiss, and Kenya snaked her arms around Caden’s neck. One hand moved to her breast, and he began massaging the bulbous globe, using his thumb to tease her nipple. Kenya sighed, as he moved his kisses down her neck, sucking and biting the sensitive skin.
Gently caressing her face, his thumb stroked her cheek to her full lips. Tugging her lower lip, Caden opened Kenya’s mouth before him, the pace of his hips increasing. He licked at her lips and open mouth, teasing her tongue to come out and play, but backing away each time she reached up to kiss him. His game of cat and mouse only increased the pleasure Kenya felt when he finally seized her mouth in a predatory kiss.
Moaning against his lips, Kenya’s hands began to explore his body. His muscles were less bulky than on the wide rugby playing frame she remembered so well. To discover what else was different since the last time they met, her hands curiously toured down the biceps and chest. She began teasing his nipples with her tongue, eliciting Caden’s low groan of pleasure. Curving her hands down past the small of his back, Kenya held on to his muscular buttocks as Caden bucked inside her with greater vigor.
Their foreheads against each other’s, the pair fell into one another’s eyes, and their individual pleasures were doubled. Kenya couldn’t say why this was different from their earlier attempt at sex. It had gone beyond a casual foray into bed for old time’s sake. Admittedly, Kenya wasn’t sure if it had ever been that. There was more gravity in the air around them now and in the space between them. The communion of their bodies was more than intimate, it was soul searching. Something was seen behind Caden’s eyes. Something spoke in his voice.
“Yayaaa,” he growled, the guttural sound sending tremors down Kenya’s body.
Caden took her hands and gently pinned them to the bed above her head, their fingers intertwining, and their eyes still locked. The movement of his hips was purposeful, and he burrowed deeper inside her with determined thrusts. Kenya could feel the fluttering in her stomach and the tightening of her muscles signaling her oncoming climax.
She felt Caden’s hard piston moving inside her with more urgency. After bringing his lips to hers again, he pulled away and released her hands. One hand he used to support his weight; with the other, he gripped Kenya’s thigh. Holding her leg in position, Caden redoubled his efforts, driving his long shaft further into her and amplifying the sounds of her pleasure.
“Does it feel good, Yaya?” he probed. “You like that, do you?”
“Yes, Cay. Yah!” Kenya exclaimed, as her toes began to curl, and her body began to shudder.
Caden’s eyes were trained on her, watching her climax. Every time Kenya opened her eyes, his viridescent orbs were surveying her from above. The intensity of his focus was both intimidating and arousing. He was looking at Kenya, as if he was recording her with his gaze. By the low rumble in Caden’s chest and the way his eyes began to roll, Kenya could tell he was about to climax too. She wanted to watch him as well.
She captured his head in her hands, so their eyes met again. With understanding, he lowered his body to her, settling his weight on his forearms which he rested on either side of Kenya’s face. He leaned forward and kissed her. When their breaths hitched at the same time, Caden immediately removed himself from the kiss, so they could live each other’s pleasure.
Caden’s hips became more insistent, drilling further into Kenya’s depths. Clinging to his neck, Kenya wrapped her legs around his waist to take even more of his massive rod into her tight crevasse. Her hips were moving in tandem with his. Soon the room, the house, that day, the past five years all ceased to exist. The only thing left in the world was the joining of their naked bodies, and the concert of their strained breaths.
“Cum again, Yaya. Cum with me!” Caden’s eyes were blazing, his body was demanding, and he thrust into her relentlessly. “Come on,” he ordered.
Kenya’s body obeyed, and Caden’s hard tool hammering her with unyielding force caused her body to r
eact even stronger. She felt her muscles contracting as fissures of pleasure began ripping through her body.
“Ya...oh...” she cried, the pitch of her voice getting higher and her body beginning to quake again.
“That’s it, Yaya. Come on,” Caden moaned, still pounding her with dedication.
“Ya...ooh...yaaa!”
“Yes, Yaya. Yes!” Caden affirmed in a guttural voice, his hands gripping her tightly. “Ahh...Yes!”
Clinging to Kenya, he shuddered through his last few thrusts, until they both collapsed, spent from orgasms.
Caden dropped his head on her shoulder, and Kenya could feel all the weight of his body atop her. She let her leg fall, so it rested on the small of his back, which was damp with sweat.
“Bloody hell, Yaya,” he sighed, tenderly stroking her thigh.
As her fingertips gingerly stroked his back, Kenya closed her eyes, silently reveling in the feeling of Caden inside her and his breath against her neck. He began kissing her collarbone and the valley between her breasts. With the feeling of Caden lightly kissing her body and his hardness stirring inside her, Kenya’s fresh orgasm was being coaxed back to the surface. As his teeth tugged at her nipples and his tongue explored her aureoles, she could feel the sensation swimming around in her stomach.
If she thought that an orgasm meant that Caden was done for the night, Kenya realized that she was greatly mistaken. He brought his mouth back to hers, and she felt his persisting erection begin to move again inside her. It became evident that Caden was determined to make up for lost time.
Five years was a lot of time.
~
“You had sex!!”
“Please, say that a little louder you two. I don’t think the people in the other office buildings heard you.” Caden sat in his office, having lunch with his sister and Copper.
“How was it?” Copper asked.
“It was,” Caden began with a blissful smile. “Beautiful.”
“Ugh,” Copper said. “You are such a woman.”
“Shut up.”
“How did it feel?” Charlotte corrected herself, “How do you feel?”
"It felt wrong. Well, it felt bloody amazing, actually; but now it just feels wrong. I mean, it should feel wrong. Right? It is wrong. Isn't it?" Caden asked the pair, incoherently. He pushed his lobster in cream sauce around on his plate, unable to stomach it at the moment.
"Well, that depends. Maybe you two care about each other as much as you did before. Maybe it's always been there, and you are just realizing it," Charlotte said. "Honestly, I'm not really that surprised."
“Is anyone?” Copper asked.
"What do you mean, not surprised? It surprised the bollocks out of me."
Caden’s own feelings didn’t surprise him, but the fact that Kenya had reciprocated was what had him at a loss. Though they’d gotten closer over the past few months, Caden was fairly certain that Kenya still hated him. Even if she didn’t hate him as much as she once did, he was sure she was not willing to forgive him. Besides, what could he offer her anyway?
"Well, I'm an observer." Charlotte said before taking a spoonful of her French onion soup.
"And what exactly do you think you’ve observed?" Caden asked.
"I don't know. Something has been different since you started spending time together. You’ve been different,” she continued. “And, I've seen the way Kenya looks at you and the way you look at her: like there’s no one else in the room. I've seen the way you are around her. You are the happiest I have seen you since you came back from The States.”
“Besides, it wasn't as if you guys got pissed after a few drinks and just decided to have a shag,” Copper added. “It's something that's been building up, right?"
"I guess." Caden shook his head slightly, looking out of the window.
In the distance he could see the garden where he first met Cadence, where he first saw Kenya after five years of avoiding her. For Caden, the past six months had been an emotional traffic jam. Everything had collided on Christmas Day, especially with Kenya’s admission that she hadn’t been with anyone since they’d been together. He’d thought about her so often for so long. Even though in his fantasies Kenya still loved him and waited patiently for him, in the sober light of day he could never entertain that possibility.
Kenya was stunning. She was beautiful outside and inside, with a brain and a booty that was unmatched. Blokes should be lining up around the square as if they were auditioning for X Factor just to have a chance to be with her. Caden never thought Kenya would still be single. The knowledge that she had been single since he’d left shattered Caden’s already cracked resolve and released the barely restrained heart which beat to the rhythm of her name. His self-control was scattered around him like pieces of a broken piggy bank, and the only thing he wanted was to claim his well-protected treasure.
Caden sighed.
"But, it's not like I can just tell her I love her, and everything will be perfect again.”
"Love?" Charlotte, eyebrow raised, leaned closer to him. "Well now, that is a--"
"I didn't mean that," Caden said quickly. "I meant loved, past tense. I mean, I suppose I do love Kenya. She’s the mother of my child. I-I love her as a person, like I love Copper.”
"And yet you weren't snogging and having a go with me that night," he quipped. "Seriously, you and Kenya need to talk."
"Oh, no." Caden said firmly. "I don't think so. We don't need to talk at all. What kind of Brits are you, anyway? You’re supposed to say, just pretend that it never happened and move on. We were probably just caught up in the moment."
"Just a word of warning little brother,” Charlotte began. “This isn’t the first time you’ve had something you should've told Kenya, and you didn't take my advice when I—wise sage that I am—said to tell her in the beginning. If they keep adding up, you may get to the point where you have too many secrets for her to forgive you, no matter what your reasoning.”
“Yass Queen!” Copper agreed before adding. “Besides, do you want to waste another five years pining over her and thinking about the life you could have?"
“I didn’t pine!” Caden growled, but he soon admitted defeat.
They were right. If he wanted to resolve this with Kenya, the only way to do it was by talking to her. He had to tell her the truth.
~
Caden arrived at the Chelsea Football Club Museum to find Kenya. The museum was right beside the stadium, and her office said she would be in meetings there for most of the day. At the sight of Kenya, Caden's breath caught in his throat. His stomach did some strange turns. It was something reminiscent of a flutter, but for a few moments he was concerned.
He peeked through the glass entryway, watching her as she led a discussion to a group of players inside. She looked so confident and in control. Kenya was so obviously in her element, he couldn't help but smile. It was great to see that she actually got her dream. Caden jumped back flush against the wall seeing Kenya look up. Embarrassed by his reaction, he brought his hands to his face.
What the hell was he doing? He was lurking. Spying on her like a stalker. He couldn't do this. Perhaps he should stick to his original plan of pretending nothing happened. Of course that would require seeing her to pretend, which he'd managed to avoid doing for over two weeks. Kenya hadn't spent the weekend at Hargrove Castle in the past fortnight either, so perhaps he was not all to blame.
Caden knew he was lying to himself, but that strategy seemed to work for him as well. Perhaps he should see how Kenya responds to him and then take his cue from that. After all, it was possible that she wasn't even bothered about what happened on Christmas. She probably already forgot about it. She was always the more reserved of the two, when it came to emotions while he felt like a puddle of it around her. Kenya probably didn't even have any trouble sleeping. She probably didn't toss and turn at night her body haunted, tormented by guilty memories.
Being together that night was so unbelievable that Caden was
almost convinced it must’ve been another dream. But, it wasn't a dream. Not this time. He could still feel her: her body soft and supple in his arms, her nails leaving trails of fire on his skin, the marks still there as a reminder. He could still smell her. He could still taste the sweet salt of her skin. He could still hear her soft moans, her gasps, her whimpers and her shallow breath as she whispered his name, screamed his name. Just remembering the sound of his own name on her lips again was enough to make the crotch of Caden’s pants feel tighter. Damn! This was torture! Perhaps, he should do this tomorrow.
"Deciding whether or not to jump?"
"Huh?" Looking up in surprise, he saw Kenya before him. "Um, no I was just about to..."
Kenya didn't speak, but there was a look in her eyes almost daring him to come inside. It was almost as if she didn't expect him to.
Well, Caden thought, he may be many things, but he wasn’t a coward. He was the 14th Baron Hargrove, damn it! He was descended from generations of men who not only fought with kings but also against them and women who did not know the meaning of the word submissive. He was a member of a family with a legacy of courageously challenging the status quo from the Magna Carta and the Baron’s War to the Slave Trade and Abolition. The Hargroves have fought in every English conflict since the Norman Conquest. One thing they were not was cowards.
Caden stepped forward, as a large tour-group of grammar school children burst through the door. As the door swung open against her, Kenya was thrown forward with such force that Caden had to catch her to prevent her from falling. He smiled despite himself, as Kenya clung to his shoulders. His arms encircled her waist, and she seemed to move forward nuzzling closer to him, his stubble gently grazing her cheek. Caden's hand tenderly stroked the small of her back, and Kenya let out a soft gasp. Like his, Kenya’s body seemed to remember the feeling of the last time his hands caressed her. It was the closest they'd been to each other since—
Kenya opened her eyes and quickly pulled away.
