Just Can't Get Enough

by Hodges, Cheris

  He slowly eased out of the car, wondering if she saw him in her peripheral vision. He leaned over the fence, trying to find the right words to say. Celina looked up as if she felt Darius watching her.

  “Hi,” he said, once their eyes locked.

  “Hello,” she replied curtly. Celina hugged her sketch pad against her chest. Darius ignored the negative vibes he was getting from her and pressed forward with the conversation.

  “How’s Mr. Hart?”

  Celina nodded. “He’s going to be fine, I think. The doctor admitted him to the hospital for some intensive treatment. I wanted to stay, but the doctor said I would damage the ‘chi’ if I stayed there worrying about the treatments.”

  “The chi?”

  Celina shrugged her shoulders. “It’s some Asian medicine that works in conjunction with the clinical medicine.”

  Darius tugged at his bottom lip with his teeth as he and Celina locked eyes again. He didn’t know what to say. Should he apologize for the other night?

  “Celina, the other night . . .”

  Celina stood up and turned toward the door. “You must stick to my ground rules. Rule number one: don’t ever kiss me again.”

  Darius climbed over the fence, stalked to the porch, and stood one step beneath Celina, who was still clutching her notebook to her chest. “I can’t promise you that. Remember, I don’t play fair.” Darius reached over and pulled Celina’s chin up to his petal-soft lips. He gently brushed his lips across hers. Celina turned away, but Darius’s lips followed her up the side of her cheek.

  “Stop,” she murmured, quickly turning her head toward his in order to look directly into his eyes.

  Darius seized the opportunity to capture her lips and assault her with a mind-numbing kiss. She melted against him and Darius felt her body react to his kiss. He gently stroked her bare back, urging her to come closer to him. His desire pressed against the fly of his jeans and he wanted her to feel it so that she’d know what was in store for her, when she decided the time was right.

  Celina pushed him away with a strange look flickering in her eyes. He didn’t know if she wanted him or if she wanted to slug him.

  “Darius,” she said in a near whisper. “You don’t play fair.”

  “But I do play to win,” he said. He looked down at the sketch pad, which had fallen on the porch. The image on the paper shocked and intrigued him. Celina’s face flushed with embarrassment. Darius leaned down and picked up the pad.

  “What’s this?”

  Celina inhaled sharply. She’d been sitting on the porch thinking of Darius. The image of his sculpted body was emblazoned on her mind and when she started to draw freehand, it was easy to capture his face, body, and what she imagined he would do if he were lying on a sandy beach with a woman—a woman like her. The picture, while it wasn’t erotic or pornographic, was sensuous and private. She’d never wanted Darius to see it. Showing him that picture would force her to admit that he had taken a piece of her mind and made it his home.

  “It’s nothing,” she said, snatching the pad from his hand. She dashed for the door, hoping the added inches between them would allow her heart to return to its normal beating pace. She had no such luck because he quickly closed the space between them.

  “This looks a lot like me,” Darius said. His hand was dangerously close to touching her shoulder.

  “I just started doodling and this is what I came up with. It doesn’t mean anything,” she said.

  Darius nodded. “Celina, why don’t you just admit it? You want to see what’s between us just as much as I do.” He traced the outline of her lips with his forefinger, sending Celina’s system into overdrive. She backed against the glass door and Darius leaned into her. “Celina,” he murmured against her ear. “Just admit it.”

  Darius smiled, then stroked her cheek. Celina grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes. “What do you want from me, Darius McRae?” she asked in a throaty whisper.

  His eyebrow shot up. “I’ve already laid my cards out on the table. You know what I want and I don’t care about miles or any of that. Celina, you’re here now.”

  He pulled her closer to him. The heat from his breath sent shivers down her spine. Celina turned her lips toward Darius, allowing him to capture them and lock her up in a lustful kiss that shook her to the core. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body against him, feeling his every throbbing muscle. As he ran his hands up and down her back, a hailstorm of emotions rushed through Celina as he touched her.

  Darius effortlessly scooped Celina up into his arms. He pushed the door open and rushed to the sofa. He gently laid Celina on the cushions.

  For a split second, she wondered if she was making a mistake. But when he kissed her on her neck, turning her insides to jelly, she couldn’t think anymore. Slowly, Darius peeled Celina’s clothes from her body, lavishing her satin skin with kisses each time he exposed a piece of her copper-colored flesh.

  Celina’s body responded instantly to Darius’s touch and he handled her body like an expert, touching her in places that aroused her and elicited hot lust from every pore of her body. As Darius ran his hands between her thighs, Celina released a primitive growl. She hadn’t been touched like that in years, hadn’t felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach since she lost her virginity on prom night years ago.

  Darius kissed her inner thigh gently, his tongue like a paintbrush drawing on her tender skin. She clutched his back, clawing at his T-shirt until she pulled it over his head. Darius continued painting lust across her thighs, slowly venturing up to the warm folds of skin that housed her passion. With wide strokes, he touched her most sensitive spot, sparking a sensation that she’d never felt before. Soft moans escaped her throat as she felt a warm trickle stream down her thighs. Tightening her legs around his neck, she pushed his face closer to her pulsing mound of female sexual energy. Celina’s legs quivered as Darius picked up on her desire and increased the speed of his tongue flickering inside of her, touching her G-spot, and making her explode. Darius traveled up her body, leaving a sweet, sticky trail across her muscular thighs, her taut stomach, and perky breasts, before planting a soul-searing kiss on her lips. Celina devoured his tongue as if she were a starving woman. And she was. Starving for love, attention, and tenderness. As she kissed him, she allowed herself to wonder what it would be like to fall in love with Darius McRae. To move back to Elmore and paint pictures of Darius all day. She wondered what it would be like to sit on the hammock on his porch and paint the bushes as they began to bloom. The thoughts of his tenderness and the love he wanted to offer calmed her fearful heart and part of her wanted to lose herself in his love.

  But she didn’t want to get hurt and that stopped her from giving him everything that he wanted from her. As Darius throbbed against her, she knew everything was going to change.

  “I need protection,” she said huskily. She knew Darius thought she was talking about birth control, but that wasn’t all the protection that she needed. She needed protecting from being hurt. This is just sex, she thought. Don’t overthink it.

  Darius reached into his discarded jeans and pulled out his wallet. He pulled a condom from behind his bills.

  Celina propped herself up on her elbows. “You carry condoms in your wallet?”

  Darius chuckled. “It’s something my father taught me a long time ago: always be prepared—”

  She silenced him with a kiss, coaxing his tongue into her mouth. She sucked it furiously, as if she were receiving sustenance from him. Darius moaned excitedly as she deepened her kiss, their tongues dueling for position, and his hands roamed her body. She responded to his touch, lighting up like a Roman candle. Neither of them could wait any longer. As Darius dove into her body, Celina shuddered, feeling his pulsating shaft pressing deeper and deeper into her. She clutched Darius’s back as his lips brushed against her neck. She tightened her muscles against his burgeoning manhood. Darius howled in ecstasy as he and Celina continued their sensual grind until they
tumbled off the sofa, still wrapped around each other like mating snakes. Celina’s nails bit into Darius’s shoulder as the waves of an orgasm began to attack her system. Darius held her close as he recognized what was happening to her. “You feel so good,” he whispered in her ear as he slowed his sexual pace. Celina uttered an incoherent sentence. Darius gently stroked her cheek as they pulled apart from each other.

  Celina stood up and quickly gathered her clothes.

  Darius stared at her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “This, this was wrong.” Celina dressed and dropped her head in her hands. What have I done? she thought.

  Darius rushed to her side and wrapped his arms around her waist. She threw his hands from around her, then pulled her shirt over her head.

  “We both wanted this,” he said as he reached out to stroke her back.

  Celina jerked away. “This doesn’t change anything. What I said still stands. We’re friends, nothing more.” She walked over to the door and opened it. “Consider this a one-night stand because this will never happen again.”

  “I don’t believe that,” he said confidently. “What we just shared was only the beginning.

  “As long as you know the rules,” she said.

  “Rules?”

  “No attachments, just sex.”

  “I don’t have a problem with that, but are you going to be able to follow your own rules?” Darius asked. “You’re not Carrie Bradshaw and this isn’t Manhattan.”

  Celina rolled her eyes. “And just what is that supposed to mean? Do you think men are the only ones who can have sex and walk away? Besides, my priority isn’t keeping your bed warm. I came here for my father. This is a by-product. You know what, forget the rules, this is the one and only time we’ll do this. If you don’t mind, I need to shower.” She nodded toward the door.

  “I’ll leave for now,” he said. “But this isn’t over, not by a long shot and you know that.” Darius winked at her as he walked out the door.

  As much as Celina wanted to tell him that he was wrong, she knew things between them had just gotten started.

  CHAPTER 7

  For the next two weeks, Celina spent her days in Columbia and her nights avoiding Darius. The only reason she didn’t stay at the hospital with Thomas was because his doctor asked her not to. She wanted to hide from Darius because every time she saw him, she thought about the night that they’d spent together. She had to remain steadfast and stay away from him. Darius wasn’t what she needed in her life right now.

  Thomas had been responding well to his treatments, gaining weight and not coughing as much. Celina had to focus on her father, not her growing desire for Darius.

  “What’s wrong, Celina?” Thomas asked as she stared out of the window.

  “Nothing,” she replied. “I was just thinking about how you fought to stay out of the hospital and look at you now.”

  Thomas smiled and sat up in the bed. “Just like your mother, you make me a better person,” he said.

  Celina bristled underneath the compliment. She wondered why, if Rena was so good for Thomas, he broke her heart the way he did. She wanted to ask him that, but decided that it was a conversation they could have at a later date.

  “When are the doctors letting you come home?”

  “Maybe in a day or so. I might be back in time for the festival.”

  Celina stood up and walked over to her father’s bedside. “The azaleas are looking pretty this spring,” she said.

  “Celina, I’m glad you came home. I never thought I needed anyone. Maybe I just never wanted to need somebody, but having you here is making this easier for me.”

  “I want to see you get well,” she said. “You have a lot more living to do.”

  Thomas nodded in agreement. “I see that now. I owe you a lot.”

  She took her father’s thin hand in hers. “No, you don’t. I’m going to head back before it gets too late,” she said. “Call me if you need anything.”

  “I will. How is that boy next door? Has he cut the grass this week?”

  “Um, I hadn’t noticed. But I’ll take care of it,” she said as she dashed out the door to avoid any other inquiries about Darius. On the drive home, all Celina could think about was Darius. She didn’t want to admit it, but she missed him. He seemed to be respecting her wishes by leaving her alone. Then again, she didn’t leave him much choice. Celina left early in the morning and returned late at night. Before leaving Columbia, she would stop at a mall and read a copy of the New York Times while sipping overpriced coffee at a coffee shop or she would wander around window-shopping for hours.

  Celina pulled her cell phone out of her purse and dialed her mother’s number. She slowed down as she slid her hands-free ear bud inside her ear.

  “Hello?” John Malcolm said.

  “Hey, John, is my mom there?”

  “Yeah. Is everything all right?” His voice was peppered with concern.

  “More or less, everything is fine.”

  “And your father?”

  “He’s good. The treatments are working pretty well. He may be coming home tomorrow.”

  “Excellent. I’ll get your mother.” Celina listened as John called out for Rena.

  “Celina, are you OK?” Rena asked when she came to the line.

  She sighed before saying, “Mom, how did you find it in yourself to love again after Daddy?” Celina pulled over into the right lane on the interstate. Traffic was light and she was thankful.

  “What kind of question is that?” Rena said. “You’ve never been in love because you’ve never allowed anyone to get close enough to you. Terrick was a good man and you could be married and working on a grandbaby or two.”

  “Ma, I’m just so . . . I met someone and I don’t want to be hurt. Right now, he seems like a great guy, but I know it isn’t going to last. And Terrick and I had absolutely no chemistry, so there would’ve been no grandbabies.”

  Rena sighed heavily. “Celina, every man is not your father. What happened between Thomas and me was just that, between him and me. It doesn’t mean you’re going to meet the same fate. If this man makes you feel special, give him a chance. Get to know him. That’s what happened with me and John. When it’s right, you know that it’s right. If you’re having these thoughts about him, then he must be something special.”

  “I’m scared, Mom,” Celina said. “Just like every man isn’t Daddy, every man isn’t John, either.”

  “Well, baby, life isn’t easy and you’re going to have some pain. But you can’t keep running and hiding behind a canvas,” she said.

  “I don’t do that,” Celina protested, then slammed on her brakes as a car darted in front of her.

  “Oh no? What about your fiancé? Why did you give Terrick the ring back?”

  “Because I wanted to move to New York,” she said. “And he wasn’t the man that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I wasn’t hiding from anything.”

  “That’s bull and you know it. Terrick would have moved there too and he still asks about you. The man is heartbroken to this day. He could’ve been the one and you tossed him aside like leftover trash. Don’t do the same thing with this new guy.”

  Celina muttered an expletive at the car in front of her, which seemed to brake for no reason. She darted into the other lane. “Ma, traffic is crazy, I have to go.”

  “All right, Ms. Road Rage. And remember what I said. Pain is a part of life and running away all the time is no way to live.”

  Celina clicked the phone off and focused on the road. She knew Darius would be at home when she got there and it was time for her to stop running.

  As the sun set on Elmore, Darius smiled. This was why he’d moved back to South Carolina. The beauty of nature was all around him, from the birds chirping above his head, to the butterflies dancing around the flowers in the yard. He sipped his beer slowly, bathing in the warmth of the fading sun rays. The only thing that would’ve made this scene better would have been having Celin
a in his arms. Darius noticed her evasive tactics and he had had just about enough of her game. That’s why he’d left work early, because he was going to make her face him whether she liked it or not.

  He scratched his head and rubbed his face. Somehow he had to win her over.

  The sound of an approaching car made him stand up. He hoped it was Celina returning from Columbia, but as the tan Lexus came into view, he realized who it was. Tiffany pulled her car into the driveway and slammed the door as she got out. Her purple sundress blew in the gentle summer breeze, exposing her golden thighs. Months ago he might have been aroused; now he was repulsed.

  “What do you want?” Darius asked.

  “I don’t appreciate you starting rumors about me,” she snapped.

  He rolled his eyes and sat on the hammock, nearly knocking over his half-empty beer bottle. “If this is why you came here, then just leave.”

  “For the record, I didn’t break your window,” she said as she walked up the red brick steps. Tiffany ran her finger down the center of Darius’s chest. “But you did break my heart.”

  Slapping her hand away, he glared at her. “How did I break your heart? Tiffany, you have issues and maybe you should go see a counselor or something.”

  She leaned forward, pressing her ample breasts against his chest. “Darius,” she whispered, “you know you want me.”

  Before he could reply, another car approached. As he feared, it was Celina. She had to have seen him. The way Tiffany was draped over him, there was no way he could explain what was going on without looking like a liar. He could feel Celina’s eyes boring into him like a boll weevil making a nest. Darius pushed Tiffany away, and she turned and looked at Celina as she got out of her car.

  “Who is she?” Tiffany asked, when she noticed Darius’s eyes following Celina as she walked up the steps. “She can’t be someone you’re remotely interested in.”

  “Why don’t you just leave and find someone else to pester?” Darius said.