Pain Lived, Love Found 2

by Thalia Lake

  I heard the rumble of Roman’s chuckle in his chest as he hugged me back. He began to massage my back slowly in a soothing pattern.

  “Oh my sweet Sarah. You’ve turned my world upside down from the first time I met you, and you’ve been under my skin ever since. I’m never letting you go, you hear me?”

  I nodded my head in agreement as I sniffled. Roman pulled me back so he could see my face and he kissed away my tears before he claimed my lips in a soul-stirring kiss. I immediately felt his desire and I was equally turned on. Moments ticked by before Roman dragged his lips from mine and said, “I better go before I change my mind about waiting.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him and smiled slyly, letting him know that he would get no argument from me.

  He opened my door and turned around to me. “I’ll call you in the morning. I love you, Sarah.”

  “I love you too, Roman.” We smiled at each other like two lovesick teenagers before he closed the door behind him and left. This is what happiness feels like, and I liked it. I still have to deal with feelings of guilt and unworthiness, but I know I can’t allow those feelings to keep me living in the past, nor can I allow them to prevent me from moving towards the future. I’m a work in progress, and I’ve been fortunate enough to cross paths with Roman, a man who knows my flaws and weaknesses and he still wants me; he still loves me. I found a man who is willing to take this journey towards love and happiness with me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

  Chapter Twenty Two - Ace and Lola (Ace)

  For almost a week, Lola refused to speak to me, let alone acknowledge my presence unless she absolutely had to, and even then she was cold as ice. Gone was the sweet, kind Lola that I could joke around with or talk about the latest movies with. Roman felt the tension between us and saw the icy way that Lola treated me. He didn’t like this side of Lola, nor did he like the tension it caused all of us. We were no longer the tight unit that worked well together. We always treated one another like family, and now it feels like mom and dad are getting a divorce.

  “You’ve got to do something about this, Ace, and soon.” Roman was staring at me with a look of disapproval as he sat at his desk.

  “Really? What happened to your speech about being patient and letting Lola come around on her own?” I spat back.

  “Well, clearly I was wrong.”

  “Well, what do you propose I do, oh wise and mighty one?” I couldn’t help the sarcasm. Sometimes Roman acted like he had all the answers, but when it comes to Lola and women, in general, I think we’re equally clueless.

  Roman gave me a warning look that I didn’t care about. He should know by now that his death stares and mean mugs don’t work on me, and they never will. I know him too well and we’ve had our fair share of actual fights growing up for me to be scared. Besides, I’m the boxer in the family. He’s the brawler.

  “You’ve already said that you would have done the exact same thing for her. I’m not about to apologize to her for protecting her. This is Lola we’re talking about,” I continued.

  “I know it’s Lola we’re talking about. The same Lola you’ve been pining over since the day you laid eyes on her. You’re in love with her.” Roman looked at me squarely in the eyes, waiting for me to foolishly deny it.

  “Maybe I am. I care about her a lot. Is that a crime?”

  “Have you stopped to think about what you’ll do if she doesn’t feel the same? I don’t want you to get hurt, Ace.”

  I knew my cousin cared about me, and I appreciated him for it. But Lola not loving me back just simply wasn’t an option. I knew she felt something towards me too, she was just hiding it because of that punk David. Now that he was out of the picture, there was nothing stopping us from exploring things. Roman was the voice of reason that I tried to ignore when it came to Lola. Deep down I knew what he said was a big possibility, but it was also something I simply wasn’t ready to face or acknowledge.

  “If she doesn’t want me then I guess I’m just shit-out-of-luck. But I don’t regret what I did to David, not for a second.

  “Well, you need to do something to make things right again between the two of you because I’m tired of being in the middle of the awkwardness.”

  “She won’t talk to me, man, let alone look at me.

  “Make her listen. Do what you have to do to make things right with Lola, Ace.”

  “Yeah, that’s easy for you to say.” I got up to leave his office. I had enough of hearing what I should do and need to do as if it was so easy.

  “If you love her and you want her in your life, then you have to fight for her. It’s the only way. If I didn’t fight for Sarah she wouldn’t be in my life now,” Roman said to me, which stopped me with my hand on the doorknob to his door. He told me about him and Sarah and how they were a couple now and that they love each other. No one was happier for my cousin than I was because I knew he had wanted this kind of happiness with the right woman for a long time, and he deserved it.

  I had dinner with him and Sarah one night and seeing him with her let me know right away that they were perfect for one another. I’d never seen Roman so happy in my life.

  Coming out of my thoughts, I turned around to face my cousin. “The difference between Sarah and Lola is at least Sarah fought with you. She let you know how she felt. I can’t keep fighting by myself.”

  “Like I said, make her listen.

  I nodded my head and left his office. I went home to my apartment and thought about what Roman and I discussed, and I thought about Lola and our fight for the one hundredth time. Later that night I tried to call her several times only to get her voicemail. I left her messages, and finally I sent her a text message. She didn’t respond to any of my attempts. Finally I had enough of being ignored and completely shut out, so I hopped in my car and drove to Lola’s apartment. Her car was parked out front, and the lights were still on in her apartment. I rang her doorbell like I was a madman.

  “Who is it?” She was clearly irritated, as her voice came over the intercom.

  “It’s me, Ace,” I barked in return.

  “Go away, Ace!” Lola snapped.

  “Not before we talk, Lola. I will stand out here all night if I have to, and I will wake up all of your neighbors until you come down here and talk to me.”

  “You make me so SICK!” She was good and pissed, but she buzzed me inside.

  I couldn’t help my triumphant smile as I walked inside and ran up the stairs to the second floor. Her apartment was the second to the right, and she left her door cracked for me to enter. When I walked inside of her cozy, colorful home, she was sitting on her couch in a Detroit Tigers T-shirt and some boy shorts showing her thick, beautiful thighs with her legs crossed Indian style. There was a beautiful Indian afghan laying across her brown leather couch, and lots of Indian, African, and Japanese art and statues throughout her apartment representing all of her heritages. There were black-and-white photos that lined a wall next to her windows of her father’s tribe, no doubt relatives of hers, along with other photos of her mother’s African-American family and Japanese family. I couldn’t help but think of how interesting her family had to be, so rich in heritage and history.

  If I weren’t so pissed with her right now I’d ask her about her family photos, but that wasn’t what I was here for.

  Her long hair was down and it took my breath away. She looked so beautiful and regal as she sat cross-legged in the middle of her couch with her back straight as an arrow. I itched to walk to her and run my fingers through her thick, curly locks. She was watching an old black-and-white movie with Clark Gable in it and eating a pint of butter pecan ice cream.

  “You better make this quick, Ace. It’s late and I want to finish this movie before I go to bed,” Lola said dryly without sparing me a glance.

  Just those few words and her lack of eye contact made me angrier. I’d endured her silent treatment long enough. She ignored my phone calls, voicemail messages, and text messages. Now I was standing in her a
partment and she was still going to ignore me? Oh, hell no!

  I walked over to her, snatched the remote from the couch, and turned off her television.

  “Hey!” That finally made her look up at me.

  “I’m tired of the bullshit, Lola. We will talk, you will look at me and acknowledge me, and act like an adult. I’m not leaving here until that happens.” My voice was firm, and my eyes were angry, as I spoke. I meant to be obeyed or else we were in for a long night, and I was prepared to go one hundred rounds with Lola if need be.

  “Don’t talk to me that way, Ace, I’m not a child,” she snapped.

  “Then stop acting like one!” I yelled in return.

  “What do you want from me, Ace?” Lola yelled as she angrily brushed hair out of her face.

  “I want you to stop treating me like I’m some monster, like I committed the ultimate sin by protecting you.”

  “But I didn’t need your protection!” Lola sounded exasperated, as if we had argued about this one hundred times already. I wish we had, then maybe we wouldn’t be where we are now.

  “How was I supposed to know that? How was I supposed to know that you know karate and taught self-defense classes when you never shared that with me or Roman? Stop punishing me for coming to your defense!”

  “Stop treating me like I’m supposed to shower you with appreciation and thank-you’s because you did something I didn’t need you to do,” Lola countered.

  I threw my head back and moaned loudly in sheer frustration.

  Lola got up and put her ice cream back in the freezer and then went to her bathroom and came back out with her hair piled into a messy bun on top of her head. I couldn’t decide which way I liked her hair the best - up or down. Either way she was still sexy as hell. Her thighs were shining and they looked so good...Focus, Ace, focus!

  Before she could sit back down I pulled Lola in front of me. “What do you want me to do, Lola? Do you want me to stop caring about you? Because that’s not going to happen. Do you want me to apologize for what I did? That’s not going to happen either. Maybe I shouldn’t have broken his nose and his jaw. I should have just broken one thing, instead of two. I apologize for that, a little,” I know I was being a smartass, but I didn’t care.

  We stood in the middle of her living room staring at each other angrily. The tension between us was at an all-time high. Neither of us was willing to give an inch or concede in any way.

  Then Lola tilted her head to the side and squinted her eyes. “Why do you care, Ace? I mean really, why do you care when you can be out with any woman you want right now? Women throw themselves at you all the time, and one would think that would have you good and occupied, but yet here you are irritating the hell out of me in my apartment. You know what, forget that I even asked.” Lola walked away, holding her forehead, heading towards her bathroom again.

  This time I followed her. She was taking out a bottle of Ibuprofen from her medicine cabinet when I stood behind her and stared angrily at her through the mirror.

  “What are you doing in here, I’m just getting something to take for my headache that you caused.”

  “You asked me why I care...did you not hear anything I said to you that day at the lake?” I asked with a frown on my face.

  I stepped closer to Lola and lightly caressed her arms up and down. She shivered and got goosebumps immediately.

  “I need to take my medicine, Ace.” She tried to get away, but I held on to her and pulled the back of her softness against the front of my hardness. “Ace, please let me go, Lola weakly protested, but I wasn’t hearing any of it.

  It was time we both faced what was really happening between us, what had been brewing between us for a long time now. I know I wasn’t alone in my feelings. “No. It’s time we talked, and I mean really talk. That’s why I’m here Lola. Look at me, sweetheart,” my voice was soft as I spoke to her, imploring her.

  Her eyes slowly met mine in the mirror and we stared at each other. My arms were securely and possessively wrapped around her waist as I held her in place against me.

  “When I look at you I see the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. I see a smart, funny, sweet woman that makes me smile every time I lay eyes on her. I see the woman who makes me look forward to going to work every morning. And I see the woman who should be with me, and only me.”

  “Ace...” Lola started to say something, but I cut her off.

  “What, Lola? Tell me I’m lying. Look me in my eyes and tell me you don’t feel the same way. You stayed with David to avoid me, didn’t you? The longer you were with David, the longer you could go without acknowledging your feelings for me. Tell me I’m wrong, Lola, and I’ll walk out of here and never come back.” I held my breath as I waited for her response.

  Instead, Lola closed her eyes and covered her face. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she moaned.

  “I’m waiting, Lola.” My patience was wearing thin. I needed to know now where I stood with her.

  “What I feel or don’t feel for you doesn’t matter because I’m not even your type. I’ve seen the women you usually go out with and I don’t look like any of them. My hair isn’t straight and blonde, my boobs aren’t huge and spilling out of my shirt, I don’t have fair skin or a long pointy nose. I don’t wear designer clothes or carry designer bags that cost more than my car payment and rent put together. So why should I put myself through the humiliation of being turned down by you and still have to come into work and act like everything is okay? I refuse to put myself through that, Ace.”

  Lola tore her eyes away from mine. She was trying not to cry and once again tried to get out of my embrace, but I wouldn’t let her.

  “You think you know my type? Oh, sweetheart, you haven’t a clue. Look at your skin. It’s so beautiful and smooth and silky soft.” I let my fingertips glide up and down her arm and then up her delicate neck. I breathed in her scent and replaced my fingertips with my lips and nose as I nuzzled the softness of her neck and collarbone. “Every time I look at you I want to nibble and lick you from head to toe, Lola. I want to taste every inch of your beautiful body. At work I want to grab you and take your beautiful hair out of those buns you always have it in and grab handfuls of it while I kiss you dizzy.” I then met her hooded eyes again in the mirror and continued, “And your lips...all I’ve ever wanted to do since the first day we met was kiss you. I still need to taste those beautiful, plump lips of yours, Lola, and before I leave here tonight I will do just that.” My hands were now slowly sliding down the sides of her soft breasts, down to her small waist to rest on her thick, rounded thighs. “Look at your beautiful thighs, baby. They are perfectly rounded and soft, just perfect for me. I picture them wrapped around my waist while I make slow, passionate love to you, Lola.”

  “Ace, stop teasing me. This is cruel,” Lola protested.

  I continued to sensually massage her thighs and hips with my hands as they trailed around to cup her ass. I then gripped her waist again and pulling her tighter against me, making sure she felt my desire.

  “Does that feel like I’m teasing you, Lola? I would never tease you about how I feel about you, or how much I want and need you.” I turned Lola around to face me and I looked deeply into her eyes. “I want you so bad I don’t know if I’m coming or going. I want every part of you: heart, mind, body and soul. I’m crazy about you, Lola, always have been. God, I need to kiss you…” I bent down and took her plush lips in a kiss so powerful it made me weak in the knees.

  Her lips were so soft, sweet, and giving. I wanted more and I took more. I demanded more from Lola, and my sweet woman gave it to me. I heard her moan over and over when she parted her lips for my tongue and I began an intense, sensual assault on her. Her hands were in my hair: pulling, caressing, and massaging my scalp as I cupped her ass and pulled her even closer to me. We both needed air but neither of us was willing to end the kiss. I finally tore my lips away from hers and trailed kisses down her neck, shoulder, and collarbone and
back up her neck and jaw.

  I nibbled on her ear and sucked on her earlobe causing her to moan. “Ace, what are you doing to me?”

  “Making you mine,” I replied as I looked her in the eyes. “I’m never letting you go, Lola. Tell me you belong to me, baby.”

  “I belong to you and only you,” Lola whispered before I swooped down and claimed her lips in a soul-stirring kiss. I picked her up and sat her on her counter. Pulling down her shorts and panties was a breeze. I slid a finger over her very wet pussy seam which brought out a long, hungry moan from Lola. Slowly I inserted a finger and began to move it slowly in and out of her. I felt like I was in heaven, and I couldn’t wait until I was fully inside of her.

  “You’re so wet, baby,” I moaned as I added another finger inside of her pussy and began pumping faster.

  Lola was gasping and moaning with her head thrown back and her eyes closed, “Ace…oh my God, Ace…” she moaned.

  I slipped my fingers out so I could concentrate on her clit. I teased, rubbed, and pulled it until I had Lola crying for mercy.

  That wasn’t enough for me. I had to taste her. I spread her legs further apart and got on my knees. Her pussy was beautiful and smooth with just a small triangle of curly black hair covering her delicate lips. I think I felt myself drooling, I wanted to taste her so bad. Her wetness was glistening on her plump pussy lips and I couldn’t wait a second longer. She was now watching me, and I looked at Lola with passion-filled eyes. Her eyes were hungry with need and I smiled at her.

  “You are so beautiful, baby. God made you for me and no one else. No one.”

  I then descended on her pussy and began to lick, suckle, and taste her. Her taste exploded on my tongue, and her unique smell heightened my desire to possess her, and I went crazy. My lips and tongue ate Lola’s sweet, delicate pussy like it was my last meal, and all I could hear was my Lola’s sweet screams of pleasure.