“Took an Uber,” she said, not glancing up from her phone.
“How’re you getting home?”
“Same way,” she muttered, glancing at me with an annoyed look on her face.
“I gotcha. Don’t worry about taking an Uber.”
“Huh?” she said, lifting her head to glance at me.
“I said, don’t worry about an Uber. I’ll take you home.”
Now why the hell I was putting myself out there like that, I wasn’t certain. I knew it could be a problem, but I couldn’t seem to stay away from the spark of this flame. When we’d walked home together one night, it was innocent enough. But cooped up in a small space together might present other problems.
“Why?”
“Why not? We live in the same building, and we’re heading to the same place. It doesn’t make sense for you to take an Uber when we’re heading to the same destination,” I said.
Her eyes widened briefly for a moment before she twisted her lips and nodded.
“You good with that?” I said.
I wasn’t trying to force my will on her.
“Yeah, that’s fine. I just need to grab a few things from my desk, and I’ll be ready.”
“A’ight. Meet you at the elevators in a couple of minutes,” I said.
CHAPTER 12 – SILVER
Catching rides back and forth with Kole to work had become a routine. He considered it “carpooling,” but I just wanted to make sure that it didn’t cause any trouble with him.
That had started a couple of weeks ago, and here we were doing it again. The only difference was there was so much work to be done tonight. Kole had a meeting the next day to present his findings to executive management about what he’d found in the budget.
My stomach was in knots about all of that business. It wasn’t looking good for Claire or Ryan, but Kole assured me that she would probably be okay. She would get a slap on the wrist, but her lack of supervision over her employees was noted.
“Are you sure you don’t mind working a bit later?” Kole asked when the elevator stopped at his floor.
“I’m sure. I’ve put in like five thousand hours over the last couple of months. What will another five hours hurt?” I teased, winking at him.
Kole stared at me so long; I wondered if I had something on my face. His dark eyes narrowed as his tongue slowly slid from his mouth, and he licked his bottom lip.
“Yeah, come on,” he said in a gruff voice, stepping off the elevator.
I followed him, my head down, wondering what I’d done wrong.
There were always these weird moments with Kole where I’d catch him staring at me. He had the oddest expressions on his face, and if I said anything about it, he’d get all grumpy with me and turn the topic back to work. I was starting to wonder if I just made him uncomfortable.
The worst thing was that I still hadn’t gotten over this attraction to him. If anything, working this closely with him over the last couple of months had intensified my feelings for him. And every now and then I swore he was attracted to me, too. But then, in a moment of clarity, I would push such irrational thinking aside.
Some days I felt like this was a punishment from Claire for something I had done that I’d forgotten all about.
I rested against the wall as he pulled out his key to unlock the door to his apartment.
“You hungry?” he asked.
“Um, not really,” I lied, ready for this evening to be over.
“You sure about that?” he asked, his top lip curling up as his eyes narrowed with a teasing twinkle in them.
“My body has issues,” I moaned, rubbing my hand over my stomach that protested too loudly.
“Okay, call it whatever. In the meantime, I’ll grab some menus. You got a preference tonight?”
“I have a taste for pasta strangely enough,” I said, settling on his couch.
“Café Intermezzo it is!” he said, pulling out the menu and bringing it to me.
We pored over the menu for almost fifteen minutes before he placed our orders. Then we turned back to working silently on the final presentation for the next day.
Neither of us stopped until the food arrived. Even then, we remained in our thoughts, and it wasn’t until we were halfway through our meal before Kole spoke.
“All right, so here’s the deal. You’re more than welcome to sit in on the meetings with us tomorrow, but it’s your call. You already know once the shit hits the fan that Claire and everyone else involved will know that you knew about this all along.”
I nodded my head. That had been the downside of working with Kole. I was too involved in the inner workings of his investigation. There was no way that I could pretend that I didn’t know what was going on. All of the information came through my fingers to his.
“Yeah, I know,” I sighed.
“So, what do you want to do?”
Shrugging, I smiled at him. “I was thinking about calling out sick tomorrow.”
He lifted an eyebrow and smiled that sexy crooked smile at me. “Seriously?”
“Well, kinda, yeah.”
“That’s fucked up.”
I know my eyes almost popped out of my head. The only time I’d heard Kole use that type of language was the day that his brother was here. Other than that, I’d only seen the professional side of Kole. And even that day, he hadn’t been directly in my presence.
“What?”
“You shouldn’t feel that way. That’s not your bag to carry. Shit, they’re the ones stealing from the company putting everybody else’s jobs in jeopardy. Now, I don’t know how this shit’ll play out, but if management has any sense, they’re firing everybody involved. If that’s the case, you’ve got nothing to worry about. Cuz you ain’t gotta see their asses again,” he said.
“I might,” I said, shrugging nonchalantly.
“The hell you worried about? What...you scared they gon’ kick yo’ ass or something?” he asked, sneering.
I shoved another forkful of butternut squash ravioli in my mouth.
“Wait...you are scared.”
“Not scared...not really,” I said, setting my fork down again.
He tilted his head to the side. “Silver, have you ever taken self-defense courses?”
I shook my head.
“Ever been in a fight as a kid or teen?”
“No. We practiced peace as a lifestyle in our home when I was a kid. And the last thing any of us wanted was to disappoint our parents.”
“Damn. So you can’t fight,” I said.
“I’m sure I could defend myself if necessary, but I’ve never had to.”
“That explains it.”
“Explains what?”
“You’ve got this docile nature about yourself, and in the beginning, it used to drive me crazy, but I’ve come to learn it’s not a sign of weakness. It’s a good character trait; it’s strength. To be so much in control of your emotions that you don’t allow others to rile you up or have any measure of control over you. That takes a lot of strength, Silver. Most people don’t have that,” he said.
“I know,” I muttered.
“I really don’t think it’ll come to this, but you need to know how to defend yourself in any situation. You gotta be careful in these streets. People are crazy as hell, Silver. You don’t know who might roll up on you and jeopardize your safety. That shit ain’t cool. You always gotta know how to defend yourself,” he said, his eyes slowly dragging down my face.
My breathing increased as his gaze dropped to my lips. I tried to regulate it, but I was having a hard time as thoughts of kissing him took over. Then slowly, his gaze returned to my eyes again, and I almost sensed a challenge resting there.
“I...I don’t think it’s that serious, Kole.”
“That’s the problem,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Women always think it’s not that serious until they’re the next victim.”
“But...but I don’t think any of my co-workers would want to harm me like tha
t.”
“This isn’t about just your co-workers, Silver. Do you know how many women come into my training after they’ve been victims of muggings or sexual or physical assaults? I just wanna make sure you can take care of yourself,” he explained, his voice dropping lower on his last statement.
I lowered my eyes from his and didn’t look up again, even when he got up from his seat. Not until the warmth of his body was right beside me did I look up. But even then, I refused to make eye contact as he kneeled beside me.
“Look, I don’t mean to scare you, and I damn sho’ don’t want you being scared of me,” he said, his hand cupping and lifting my chin.
I had no choice but to make eye contact now, but I didn’t see the anger that had been present before. If I weren’t crazy, I’d dare say that he seemed concerned. Almost worried for me.
“I’m not scared of you, Kole.”
“Good,” he said, releasing my chin. “The difference between you and most of the women that take my classes is that they’d already suffered an attack. I don’t want to see anyone hurt if they can avoid it. Whether it’s an abduction or the man who says he loves you had one too many drinks, a woman should always know how to protect herself. And if that’s the only thing that you learn from me in the time we work together, then you’ve learned a life-long lesson. Let that be the takeaway from our time working together these last couple of months.”
I nodded.
“Can I show you something? Just a few basic moves,” he asked, standing up and extending his hand to me.
“Sure,” I replied nervously as I took his hand.
I don’t know why there was a jumble of nerves bunched tightly in my belly as I followed him. Maybe it was the touch of his hand against mine. That skin to skin contact between him and me, while not necessarily intimate, was more personal than the interaction I’d become accustomed to with Kole.
We moved to the center of the living room, away from his glass coffee table.
“There’s not enough room in here, but I can show you a couple of quick power moves,” he said.
I simply nodded, not sure what to say because all of this had caught me off-guard.
He moved behind me and positioned my right fist at my hip. “Your force is gonna come from these two big knuckles,” he said.
I was very aware of his presence behind me. The hard press of his chest against my back, his masculine scent, and the subtle notes of his cologne surrounded me. I struggled to not relax in his large arms, embracing me as he placed me into position. But when his long muscular legs pressed against me, I couldn’t suppress a tremble because a ball of desire shot straight to my belly and pooled there.
“Look at me for a second,” he said, moving from behind me.
I instantly missed his presence, but my eyes remained on him as he demonstrated the move I should be making. It looked so sexy when he did it. Like deliciously yummy and made me want to strip his clothes off and lick every single muscle of his body.
Kole demonstrated a few more moves for me, and I mimicked each of them. Then he moved into position behind me once more.
Welp! So much for that pooled desire. It began seeping straight to my kitty, as my nipples hardened and said kitty throbbed like it had a separate heartbeat of its own. I bit my bottom lip, trying to shut out the visions that played out in my head.
“If someone comes behind you, and you never noticed them, and they grab you like this. What’re you gonna do?”
CHAPTER 13 – KOLE
Shit! That wasn’t what I’d expected. Hell, that’s the reason I’d moved away from her the first time. Just wrapping her in my arms the way that I had was too much for me.
So, when I asked her to show me what she’d do if someone grabbed her from behind, the last thing I expected was for her to grab my dick. And it was already hard but cupped in her hand the way that it was...shiiidd!
She had me fucking overstimulated and ready to cross lines I had no business looking at. But what the fuck was I supposed to do when she was looking over her shoulder at me the way that she was?
I couldn’t ignore those gorgeous “fuck-me” eyes and those lips that were begging to wrap themselves around me.
Shit! I couldn’t be thinking thoughts like that because it wasn’t helping my state-of-the-dick. I started trying to conjure images of worms, but they weren’t coming.
I paused.
She started stroking my dick through my pants.
“What kinda self-defense move is that?” I growled.
“The kind of move when you don’t want to defend. When you’re hoping someone will assault you.”
“Girrl!” I warned.
“Are you going to stop pretending like you don’t want me, Kole?” she asked. “Remember the day I said, ‘Eu acho você muito atraente?’ It means, ‘I find you very attractive.’”
I pulled back slightly, breathing in and out of my nostrils as I tried to control my mind and my dick.
“Girl, I’ma fuck you up,” I growled with my fists clenched at my side as I stepped away from her.
“That’s what I was waiting for,” she said, taking a step toward me, closing the distance between us.
Her eyelids were heavy, and her slightly parted lips showed just a slip of her tongue.
I lost it. My fingers balled Silver’s long auburn hair in a bundle and jerked her head back. Dipping my head down, I sucked that bottom lip that I’d been wondering about. I had a theory about those damned lips, and I was only proving half of that theory correct.
Hell yeah, they were soft and sweet. I just wondered how those lips would look puckered around my dick. I’d lost control of me and my dick because he was jumping all over the place in my pants.
Silver’s tiny hands grabbed a handful of my shirt, drawing me closer as a moan slipped through her parted lips. I covered her mouth with mine, letting her slip her tongue inside. I tasted the herbal and tomato flavors from her meal, along with the sweetness from the wine she had drunk.
Slowly I dragged my other hand up her arm and rested it on her shoulder, before pulling it back down, cupping her breast.
When I finally broke off our kiss to gain control, she arched her hips, pressing herself into me.
“Silver, if we do this...there’s no going back.”
“I don’t want to. I’ve waited two months for you to see me, Kole, and it’s been five lonely months since I’ve been with a man. I’m clean, I’m willing, and I’m ready.”
“If I fuck you tonight...”
“When you fuck me tonight,” she corrected.
That was it. I lifted Silver’s little ass in my arms and carried her straight to my bedroom.
Unbuckling my belt and pants, I watched Silver push her dress up around her waist. Silver was perfect in all the ways I could never have imagined.
From the defined curve of her hips to the thickness of her thighs, the small curve of her ass that wasn’t like a sister’s but wasn’t flat, to her rounded breasts that sat high and proud.
The light above my bed formed a halo effect around her, shining down on her warm-beige skin. I could see the copper undertones in her skin. Silver was an exotic beauty, and I’d never realized just how gorgeous she was.
Until now.
Opting not to remove my pants, yet I kicked my shoes off and kneeled on the floor.
I spread her legs apart and snatched her barely-there-panties down her legs and threw them over my shoulder. Not giving a second thought to where they landed, I slowly licked circles around her clit before pulling the swollen bud between my lips, hungrily suckling at it.
Her fingers clutched the bedspread, and her back arched. Lifting my head, I clamped my hands down on her inner thighs and pressed them down, opening her further to me. I watched as her pink bud blossomed for me, poking out, teasing me to come closer.
I slid a finger inside of her stirring up her juices as my finger turned one way and then the other. I slid my finger in and out, watching her eyes grow heavy.
Sliding another finger inside of her, Silver became stickier, and her pussy acted like a vacuum, drawing my fingers deeper within her.
The sucking sounds and her ultimate pussy power motion was making my dick harder. She had control of that shit like nothing I’d ever seen. My dick twitched, ready to jump right inside of her. But not yet, I wanted to taste her, not sample her, or tease like I’d just done.
My eyes widened as she pulsed her clit. Pulled into a trance, I was unable to tear my eyes away from the sight. I had to have it. Leaning forward, I pursed my lips around it, sucking greedily like a newborn baby at his mother’s tit.
“Kooole, more, baby. More,” she moaned, reaching down and placing her hands around my head. She pulled me closer, and I obeyed.
Sucking her clit in and out between my lips, my tongue teased her.
“Nan nega pil-yohae,” she cried out.
I had no idea what she said, but that shit sounded sexy, as hell. I peered up at her, and she was biting her bottom lip.
“What?” I growled.
“I said, ‘I need you,’” she moaned.
Opening my mouth wide, I covered her cunt and began sucking it, drawing her up into my mouth. It was my mission to let Miss Silver know she wasn’t the only one with the power. She might’ve had that pussy power, but I had that tongue action, and I was about to show her.
Folding the edges of my tongue in, I created a cup with my tongue and lips and assaulted her pussy. Silver’s head flew up from the bed, her eyes wide as she stared at me.
“Kole! What the hell? Oh, shit! That feels sooo good!” she cried out.
Slipping a finger in her ass, I slid it in and out while I continued suctioning her juices from inside of her. Her body shivered as her legs squeezed tight around my head and then flopped down again. Narrowing my tongue further, I shoved it deeper inside of her, making her squeal.
A violent shudder ran through her body as her hips arched up from the bed and her head thrashed wildly back and forth. I wouldn’t let go, though. I continued to slay that pussy with my tongue until she was empty.
I licked at her slit, cleaning up the remnants of her juices and her stickiness.
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