Sloan moaned hard. His baritone growl vibrated through Jai as he sucked up every drop of her juices. Jai screamed. Jai screamed and writhed.
Sloan stood up and massaged Jai's clit as he watched her come down off of her high.
“Wait right here,” Sloan said to Jai as he kissed her on the cheek and exited the room.
A few seconds later Sloan returned to the kitchen with his cock standing at full attention protected by a condom. Sloan quickly bent Jai over the countertop and pushed himself inside of her. He pumped hard and the sound of his balls slapping on her thighs encouraged him to pump even faster.
Sloan moaned as he plunged in and out of Jai. When Jai reached back and opened herself up for him even more, Sloan thought he was going to have a heart attack.
“Fuck me, baby,” Jai whispered. “Fuck me just like I like it.”
Jai's filthy talk was all it took to push Sloan to his climax. Right when Sloan was about to rupture inside of Jai, he pulled out his rock-hard cock, pulled the condom off, slapped it on her ass cheeks, and watched it ejaculate. He then grabbed his meat and began jacking off, cum squirting all over Jai's ass and back. Once he had squeezed every last drop out, he slumped over, his body covering Jai's.
All day Jai kept remembering her morning treat with Sloan and a smile would cross her lips. She could hardly pay attention to the movie she and Rissa had gone to see. Every time the memory would surface she would cross her legs to squeeze her clit. The memory was so intense. She had made herself cum three times during the movie (hands free). It's amazing what a girl's imagination and the strategic positioning of her legs can do. And she had managed it without drawing attention to herself.
Jai couldn't wait to wrap up her girlfriend time with Rissa and make her way back to Sloan's for seconds. She knew that he was knee high in work, but she didn't plan on staying long, just long enough to cum.
After the movies Rissa insisted she and Jai go grab something to eat and it was all Jai could do not to scream at Rissa. But her girlfriend didn't know she was jonesing bad.
After Jai and Rissa left Chedders Restaurant, Jai had every intention of heading straight to Sloan's place. Her body was calling for him. On her way, she stopped to fill up her car with gas for the upcoming workweek and while she was there she grabbed a bouquet of flowers for Sloan and a six-pack of Corona. While at the counter she admired a banana cream scented candle and imagined how delicious the melted wax would smell running down her belly.
When Jai pulled up to Sloan's apartment building a group of four people, who appeared to be just a little bit tipsy, were exiting the building. They were laughing and singing. Jai got out of her car and entered the apartment building and headed upstairs. On her way up the stairs she passed a blonde lady in a black sequin dress and knew that someone in the building must have been having a party. As Jai walked down the long hallway to Sloan's apartment she could see a woman standing outside of his door. It was a woman who looked to be maybe a few years older than Sloan was. She was wearing a sharp red suit that complemented her still girlish figure.
“Thanks for coming,” Jai could hear Sloan say.
“No, thank you. You throw one hell of a party, Devaroe,” the woman replied in an overly friendly and flirtatious tone. “See you at work on Monday,” the woman said as she headed down the hall crossing Jai's path, saying hello to her as they passed.
The door closed just seconds before Jai got to it. She stood outside a little confused and knocked hesitantly. She could hear music playing. If Jai was naming that tune correctly it was “Boogie Shoes” by KC and the Sunshine Band. Jai swallowed and knocked harder. Sloan opened the door and when he saw jai standing there with flowers, Corona, and banana candle in hand, his expression froze.
“Jai,” Sloan said surprised, swallowing hard afterward. “What are you doing here?”
“No hello, glad to see you, or nothing?” Jai asked sarcastically. “Looks like I just missed the big party. I imagine you didn't get much work done on those claim files.”
“It wasn't really a party,” Sloan said nervously. “Just a few friends from work stopped by.”
“Oh, so everybody just happen to be in the neighborhood at the same time?” Jai said.
“Come inside so we can talk,” Sloan said, opening the door wider. As she walked by him he could smell the sweet scent of Sand and Sable she was wearing. It was sweet just like her, the woman he found himself caring more and more for each day. He closed the door behind her.
Jai looked around, noticing that all the guests were gone. It seems as though the woman in red was the last to leave the party. There were empty wine and champagne bottles sitting out. She walked over to the mostly empty trays of shrimp, veggies, and cheese.
“And how convenient,” Jai said, picking up a piece of shrimp and throwing it back down. “You just happened to have had some appetizer trays and bottles of wine laying around to accommodate your surprise guests?”
“It was just people I work with, Jai.” Sloan attempted to explain as his voice began to break. “It wasn't anything big. I didn't think you'd want to hang out with them.”
“Then you should have allowed me the opportunity to decline,” Jai snapped as she turned away from Sloan. She couldn't even look at Sloan right now. She couldn't allow him to see the hurt in her eyes. The first thing that came into Jai's head is that Sloan had invited some other woman, his other girlfriend perhaps.
“Baby,” Sloan said softly, trying to rub Jai's arm.
“Don't touch me,” Jai said between clinched teeth. “Don't you put your goddamn hands on me.”
“Jai,” Sloan said, surprised at Jai's harsh reaction toward him.
“No, I don't want to hear it, Sloan. Do you think I'm stupid? Rather than sit here and make up a bunch of excuses and piss me off even more, just tell me the truth and get it over with.”
Sloan put his head down in humiliation. “Jai—” he said.
“Say it. Was it another woman, Sloan, or were you just embarrassed, ashamed even?” Jai said, walking up on Sloan. “What is it? You didn't want the people you work with to know about me? Am I not good enough for them to meet? I thought I meant more to you than that, Sloan. I thought that we were more.”
Sloan sighed. He didn't even know where to begin his spiel.
“Let me hear you say it.” Jai was poking him in the chest with her index finger.
Sloan closed his eyes tight and just began shaking his head in disbelief. He felt awful. There was nothing he could say to Jai that would excuse his behavior. He had been planning the party for months and hadn't said a word to Jai. Hell, when he first started planning it he didn't even know if Jai would still be in the picture by the time the party went down. But she was still in the picture and now she had found out.
Every couple of months or so someone from Sloan's department at work has a brown-nose cocktail party for management. The employees compete to see who can give the best party and leave a greater impression.
With two of his four superiors being women, Sloan hated to admit it, but flirting had become an unwritten part of his job description. He never saw the harm in stroking an ego or two. And the two women loved it. And if Sloan knew one thing about women, it was how jealous they could be of one another. Sloan knew that having Jai on his arm at that party would have definitely changed his working relationship with the female managers.
He didn't have the words to explain this type of situation to Jai. Women never knew how to handle the truth. Not really. So as the date of the party grew near and Jai was still in the picture, he decided to lie by omission and not tell her about the party. He figured if she didn't know about the party in the first place, then he would have no explaining to do.
The situation wasn't looking good to Jai, and no matter what words Sloan dug up to explain it, nothing was going to sit right with her at this point, definitely not the truth. But Sloan had nothing else to offer her.
Sloan had never been with a woman whom he adored as much
as he adored Jai. He had never been with a woman whom he wanted to spend all of his time with, let alone take her to a company function. Sloan didn't have the reputation at his company for being a womanizer. And by no means did anyone peg him for being gay. He was just thought of as a decent, hardworking man who wanted to focus and establish a stable career before taking on the responsibility of a family. That's one of the reasons why he had earned so much respect in his workplace. The women, especially, just ate that up about him.
Sloan was uncertain of how he might be looked at in his workplace if they discovered his dark secret, that he did enjoy the companionship of the female species just as much as any other man. That he wasn't at home buried in work all of the time. But Sloan didn't want to cause any type of stir just yet. Word was that Sloan's boss, one of the highest-ranking females in the company, would be taking early retirement soon and that Sloan was a possible candidate for the promotion. Sloan had been with the company for years and felt as though he couldn't jeopardize his career with being pegged as a loose and irresponsible man with greater concerns of conquering women than conquering claims.
He knew that if Jai found out about the party, she would have wanted to attend and would take Sloan not wanting her to attend the wrong way. So Sloan's goal was to make it so that she wouldn't find out. Mission failed. If only he could have pulled it off until he got into management. By then most of his coworkers would have been too busy sucking up to him and throwing him parties to even think about being concerned with his personal life.
“I'm sor . . . ,” Sloan attempted to say, but anger got the best of Jai as she hauled off and slapped Sloan across his face. She stared at the stunned expression on his face and then she slapped him again, and again before he grabbed her hand in midair. Jai broke down in tears.
“Oh, God this hurts so much,” Jai cried. “Rissa warned me.”
“The hell with Rissa,” Sloan shouted. “It's not like that. If you'd just let me exp—“
“How can you say that, Sloan? Stand here and tell me that you truly wanted me at your little shindig. Why? Is it because I'm black? No, wait a minute. It was another woman wasn't it? You had another bitch on your arm, huh?”
Jai attempted to slap Sloan with her free hand, but he blocked her.
“I know what I did was wrong in your eyes, but you have to look at it from my standpoint. I work for those people. They pay my bills. I care about their perception of me and right now—“
“So does that mean I won't be joining you at the company Christmas party either?” Jai asked sarcastically, cutting Sloan off again, unabling him to complete his explanation. “Thank goodness you were only out with just a couple of guys from the gym and not the people from work the night you saw me.”
“I'm sorry, Jai. I never meant to hurt you.”
“You never meant for me to find out. You would have had your little party, minus the little girlfriend, or whatever you want to call it, and been right back to fucking me tomorrow. Is that all I'm good for, Sloan, sex? I'm okay to fuck with behind closed doors, but that's where you draw the line?” Jai cried.
“It's not like that, Jai. I love you,” Sloan said to Jai for the very first time.
“And you know what's funny? For a minute there, I thought you did. And up until I knocked on your apartment door I loved you, too, Sloan. But I can't love someone who I can't trust.”
“This is all new to me, Jai. Just give me a chance. I've never seriously dated anyone before. I know I fucked up this time, but I'm learning.”
“What a cop-out,” Jai replied. “I thought love was supposed to conquer all in the end. I thought the girl always gets the guy and the guy always gets the girl.”
“And it does,” Sloan said, pleading with Jai.
“Well, who in the hell wrote this fucking script because shit don't seem to be working out that way?”
“I'm not ashamed of you, Jai. I'm not,” Sloan said as he hugged her tightly. “I'm not ashamed to have you as a . . . girlfriend.”
“Oh yeah, then when are you taking me to Columbus to meet your parents?” Jai asked Sloan as she pushed him off of her. “When do I get to meet Mama Mia?”
The room seemed loud with silence as more tears began to run down Jai's face.
“You've visited Columbus eight times since I met you and not once have you invited me to join you.”
Sloan was silent for a minute before mumbling, “Sorry, Jai.”
“That you didn't have to tell me. I kind of figured out that you were sorry on my own,” Jai said as she headed for the door.
“No, Jai. Please don't go,” Sloan followed behind her. “Let's talk about this. If you'd just give me a chance to say—“
“What you haven't said says it all. You treated me a certain way tonight. Whether you realize it or not. Even though I wasn't here physically, you were treating me in a certain way. A woman doesn't always have to be present to be treated unfairly and disrespectfully by a man.”
Sloan looked into Jai's brown eyes that were full of hurt. It pained him to know that he was the cause of it. He could see his reflection slipping out of Jai's eyes and her heart. He felt as though no explanation mattered now.
“You'll never understand just how much you hurt me tonight,” Jai said, wiping her eyes. “Good-bye, Sloan.” She walked to the door.
“Jai, don't you walk out that fuckin' door,” Sloan said, holding back tears of his own. “We can talk about this, Jai. We can work this out.”
“Maybe I should have made this clear in the beginning,” Jai said. “But I'm looking for love. I'm looking for the kind of love that makes you say fuck the world and everything in it.” Jai couldn't help but break down once again.
“And I just wanna love ya,” Sloan said with deep sincerity.
“I'm so tired, Sloan. I'm so fucking tired of this shit. You know what I learned tonight?” Jai said as she opened the door. "Niggaz is a universal word. Niggaz is an action not a person. It's ignorance, egotism, selfishness, and imprudent. And I'm almost one hundred percent convinced that all men are not necessarily dawgs, but they are all niggaz. And yes, Italians, too!”
“Jai, Jai,” Sloan said as she opened the door to leave the apartment. KC's timing couldn't have been more perfect as Sloan began to sing along with the 1970s superstar. “I'm gonna miss your lovin' the minute you walk out that door. Please don't go,” Sloan sang as if he had recorded the song himself.
But this heart-moving serenade didn't keep Jai from walking down the hall and out of Sloan's life. When she got to her car, she sat behind the wheel and cried her eyes out.
It had been seventeen days, going on seventeen long nights, since Jai had spoken to Sloan. Deep down inside, Rissa couldn't have been more gladdened by the breakup. It killed her hearing about Jai being so happy with Sloan, how good of a catch he was. Rissa couldn't help but be haunted by the thought that it should have been her. Rissa ran down that night in Cream a thousand and one times trying to determine what Jai had that she didn't have that attracted Sloan to her. Rissa hated to admit it, but a white man choosing a black girl over her was a major shoot down.
Rissa found herself in the gym five times a week instead of her normal regimen of three days thinking that maybe she needed more work on her body. She even lightened her hair a little. One can never be too blonde. She even went as far as calling a doctor and making a consultation appointment for breast implants. Now, with Jai and Sloan's breakup, she wasn't constantly reminded of possible flaws with herself. Jai's pain was Rissa's healing. Of course Rissa never let onto this to Jai. She had to be the best friend that she was and be there for Jai during her time of need.
The two had to have gained at least five pounds together over the past couple weeks. They ate out or shared takeout at one another's home, over a good old-fashioned male-bashing session, almost every other day. They had even missed two weeks of Friday evening happy hour at Cream because the place reminded Jai too much of Sloan. It was like pulling hen's teeth when Rissa finall
y got Jai to go.
The girls hadn't been inside Cream a good half-hour before Sloan and his buddies from the gym walked through the door.
“Don't look now, but the most beautiful man in the world just walked through the door,” Rissa said.
Jai turned to see Sloan and those same two guys he was with the night she met him. He didn't notice her and Rissa before taking a seat at a corner booth.
“So how do you feel about seeing him walk through that door?” Rissa asked. “Is your heart racing ninety miles per hour? Are your palms sweaty? Can you hear your heartbeat? Do you have a loss of appetite and words?”
Jai just sat there trying to prevent the tears from rolling down her face. Not being with him hurt. Seeing him hurt.
“Damn, girl, you got it!” Rissa said, putting her hand on Jai's forehead. “You got jungle fever.”
The two laughed hysterically. Jai's laughter turned to tears as Rissa handed her a napkin.
“Girl, walk over there and go get your man. Imagine how you would feel if he walked up to some other woman, asked her to dance, and lived happily ever after with her, all because you sat here looking cute, with too much pride to just go over there to him. Imagine that.”
Jai looked into Rissa's eyes and could tell that she was speaking from her heart. Rissa didn't want Jai to feel the resentment she herself was feeling inside, but she knew she would get over that completely in time.
When Jai looked at Sloan so much flashed before her eyes. She saw the two of them living in a small cottagelike house with a big backyard, two kids, and a dog. This must have been what Rissa saw the moment she looked at him that night in the club. Before Jai repeated the same mistake she turned to Rissa to get her genuine approval.
“Look, girl, it's been me and you for years and I can live with it just being me and you. But I love him, Rissa. I really do. But, I'm never going to know just how much he really loves me or if we can make this thing work if I don't go over there. But I won't go over there, not if my happiness equals your misery and a dent in our friendship. So tell me how you really feel this time. What do you want me to do?”
An All Night Man Page 13
