Know Her, Love Her: Daisy & Belmont, Book ONE (LOVE in the USA 4)

by Z. L. Arkadie

  “Aren’t you the host of The Lone Traveler?”

  “So you are behind the whole thing,” I snarl.

  “I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “Then we just happened to be in the same restaurant in Chicago at the same time?”

  “What are the odds?”

  I narrow one eye suspiciously. “Yes, what are the odds.”

  He sets his ankle on his knee and steeples his hands in front of him. “Of all the shit between us, you would be angry if I interfered with you getting a job?”

  “I would be more upset than angry.”

  “Is there a difference?”

  “I think so.”

  His expression is indiscernible. “You’re so beautiful, Daisy.”

  I turn my gaze toward the stone fountain in the middle of the lobby. It’s an obscure piece of work.

  He leans forward. “We haven’t spoken in four and a half months, and when you see me, you run away.”

  He’s waiting for me to respond, but I don’t know what he wants me to say. “Should I apologize?”

  He sniffs disdainfully. “You have a lot of shit to apologize for, but fleeing a restaurant isn’t one of them.”

  “You don’t have to make me feel lousy. I already do.”

  “Do you?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Why?”

  I glare at him. To the world, it looks as if Belmont’s the bad guy for leaving me. However, he and I know the truth. After Joella passed, he handled the cremation, the paperwork, and planning her memorial service, which I missed because I couldn’t get out of bed. I only woke up when the nurse Belmont had hired changed the dressing over my incision, gave me a sponge bath, or tried to convince me to eat homemade soup. Belmont had never badgered me about doing my part. He’d consulted Heloise, my mother, and her advice was for him to wait until I got out of bed on my own, which I did a week and a half later.

  Of course, things weren’t the same. When we had sex, I asked Belmont to wear a condom. He was fine with that for the first couple of months, but then he wanted sex more frequently and spontaneously. I was always worried about being safe. Slowly, we stopped having sex so frequently. Belmont slept in another room. I didn’t complain about that either. Then we started saying cruel things to each other. He would bring up how I missed Joella’s memorial ceremony and question whether I ever cared about her or him. I refused to try to convince him of my love for our daughter. I told him that me being catatonic for a week and a half was right up his alley since he liked me being weak.

  “You’re not weak. You’re void,” he’d said.

  I didn’t recover from that comment until he moved out. I still don’t think I’m over it.

  The waitress steps between us to take our orders. I’m no longer hungry, so I just order a club soda.

  “Did I ruin your appetite?” Belmont asks, scowling.

  “No.” Finally I feel my own anger. “Yes, actually. I don’t know why you’re behaving this way. You’re the one who had a date, and I know you took her to Curtis’s wedding. The invitation was for you and me, not you and her. I’ve seen the reports about you and other women. You’ve moved on. Maybe I should too.”

  Belmont puts his hands on my knees and leans in. “There are no other women.”

  “Um, should I come back?” the waitress asks.

  I forgot she was standing there. I swallow. It has been too long since he touched me. The band starts.

  Belmont stands and put on his coat. “We’re leaving.” He glares at me as if I should automatically follow.

  But I came here to eat and listen to music. As soon as I sat down, all the men in the room paid attention to me. Not until this very moment have I considered finding myself a lover just as he did. I know exactly what Belmont wants, and every part of my body wants to comply. I rise to my feet. I’m disappointed with myself for being unable to resist him.

  Belmont takes my hand—his palms are damp. He leads me to the elevator and slides his card through the reader, unlocking access to the 30th floor.

  My jaw drops. “Are you serious? You have a room here?”

  He chuckles. “I do.”

  “Is this coincidence, or are you following me?”

  “Neither. I used our reward advantage.”

  “Ah, yes…” I did too.

  As the elevator rises, he slams his lips against mine. His mouth tastes the same. The way he’s so hard for me hasn’t changed either. My chest, pelvis, and thighs rise to meet his. We whimper with frustration. We can’t seem to sink into the other’s skin.

  “I do love you,” I say breathlessly.

  I tilt my head. His tongue slips up my neck to my chin, and his teeth pull my bottom lip into his warm mouth. Ravenous hands squeeze my ass and rub me against his unyielding erection. I’m soaked and ready for him. The elevator door slides open. Belmont leads me to my suite. Of course he knows which room I’m staying in.

  He shoves me against the door and tugs at my jeans. “Why did you wear these?” His tongue circles mine.

  “I didn’t know I would have to accommodate you.”

  “You must’ve known I wouldn’t let the night pass without fucking you.” He grabs my pussy.

  I gulp. I’m so sensitive to his touch.

  “Give me your key,” he commands.

  My hands shiver, but I manage to get the key out of my pocket and give it to him. Belmont swipes it. He doesn’t let go of my crotch as he backs me into the room. The desk lamp fills the room with dim light. Our mouths are incapable of pulling apart, but he releases my pussy to take off my jacket.

  “Get on the bed.” His voice is thickened by desire.

  I sit on the edge, but Belmont sweeps me up and drops me in the middle of it. He snatches off his coat and spreads himself on top of me. We wrap ourselves around each other. My tank top goes over my head and separates our lips, but our mouths soon reconnect. He tugs the cups of my bra up over my breasts and sucks my erect nipples deep into his wet mouth. I whimper with every stir of his tongue and nibble of his teeth. Excitement makes me overly sensitive.

  “Belmont?” I breathe heavily into his mouth.

  He unsnaps my pants and pulls down the zipper. “What?”

  “Do you have a condom?”

  He sighs as he rolls onto his back and covers his eyes with his forearm.

  My body and soul screech from his abandonment, but my face shows no signs of it. I stare at the ceiling and recall the last time we made love. It was the night before he walked out. I couldn’t enjoy all the pleasurable things he did to me because I was too busy worrying about what could happen since we hadn’t taken precautions.

  Belmont sits up. “I think I want a divorce.”

  I close my eyes to bear the ache in my heart. It passes, but my stomach is still queasy. “Okay.”

  His glare stops my heart. “That’s it?”

  “You’ve already left me and started seeing someone else. Yes, that’s it.” Fueled by rage, I try to sit up.

  All of a sudden, Belmont yanks off my shoes and throws them on the floor. He pulls me close to the foot of the bed and tugs off my pants. He grabs my ankles, spreads my legs, and admires my pussy. Without another word, he puts his face in it, swirling his tongue around my clit. The impact is immediate. I moan and claw at the sheets. He watches me squirm as his fingers dig into the flesh of my ass, pinning my clit to his mouth. He makes me feel pleasure and pain. My knot swells against his tongue, and he squeezes harder.

  I close my eyes tightly and, like our relationship, focus on what feels good. I whimper and try to wriggle my butt out of his grasp, but Belmont won’t let go. His hands are like a trap, and my ass is the bear.

  “Ouch,” I whine. “You’re hurting me.”

  He frees me, and I hear the clasp and zipper of his pants. Before I can lean up on my elbows, he lifts my thighs and pulls my hips up toward his erection. I gasp when he slams himself inside me. Belmont pounds me against his pole, hitting bottom. He
groans as though screwing me is the best thing in the world.

  I have no control over what he’s doing. My tits bounce like paddleballs. He’s shifting me so fast that he’s a blur. Belmont is in this for himself. I should shout stop, but it feels so good being handled by him again, even if we’re engaging in risky, condomless sex.

  “Fuck!” He pulls out, pushes my bottom against the bed, and sprays my belly and tits with his juices.

  “Did you come?” he asks, breathing heavily.

  I frown. “What was that?”

  “Did you come or not?”

  “Of course not…”

  By the way he’s behaving, I expect him to say good, put his pants back on, and leave me unfulfilled. Belmont’s gaze rolls up and down my nakedness.

  “One second,” he says and retrieves a towel out of the bathroom. He wipes my stomach then digs his fingers carefully into my pussy. “You’re still wet.” His thumb rolls around my clit, and his fingers thrust into me.

  He watches my stomach muscles roll as sensations surge under the hood of my pubis. Belmont is an expert at this. I bite my bottom lip, arch my back, and let myself enjoy how good it feels. He bends over to suck my bottom lip into his mouth, then my top one.

  Belmont breathes heavily. “Shit...”

  He stimulates me faster. I run my fingers through his hair and grip his scalp as he bites and licks my nipples. I let him hear me when my walls pulsate around his fingers.

  “Daisy, baby,” he mutters and prods me faster to make my orgasm last.

  I release the tension in my body when the sensation subsides.

  Belmont takes his fingers out of me. “I didn’t know you were in town.”

  I swallow the lump in my throat. “I believe you.”

  “I’ve been waiting for you to call.” He stands and puts on his pants. “I don’t like that guy—Dexter. If you want to work in TV, I’ll talk to Vince.”

  I groan. It’s the same old, same old. “Screw you, Belmont.” I roll off the bed, go to the wardrobe, and put on a robe.

  “Do you like him or something?”

  “Don’t insinuate things. We met for the first time today. But you don’t get to walk out on me and then control me too.”

  He opens his mouth but studies me instead. He picks his coat up off the floor. “If I had known you would be at that restaurant, I would’ve chosen a different one. I didn’t want to see you until you made the first move.”

  I roll my eyes. “That’s ridiculous.”

  I think he’s surprised by my brashness. “Come here?”

  I recognize the way he’s looking at me, so I shake my head and plant my feet. He looks stunned. I hardly ever say no to him.

  “You want to know why I haven’t called you?” I ask. “It’s because you’re entitled.”

  “Entitled?”

  “You’re Hubbell Gardiner.”

  “Who the hell is Hubbell Gardiner?”

  “He’s a character in a movie, The Way We Were. And it’s not your fault. You’re good-looking and rich—a valuable commodity in our society. You walk out on me. You get a new girlfriend. You want to screw me, so I let you. Everything comes too easy for you.”

  Belmont flings his coat onto the sofa as he walks over to stand in front of me. “Stacy’s not my mistress. We’re friends, and she’s working with me. I’m in Chicago because an investor here is selling off prime real estate to the highest bidder. But if money was all it took, I would’ve negotiated from the Vineyard. That’s where I’ve been living for the past four months.”

  I’m not willing to let him off the hook so easily. “Then why did you take her to the wedding?”

  He shrugs. “I didn’t want to go alone.”

  “Have you ever had sex with her?”

  Belmont’s eyes shift.

  “Don’t lie to me,” I warn him.

  “Not since I met you.” I try to walk away from him, but he grabs and embraces me. “It would be a hell of a lot easier to love her.”

  I try to pull away from him again, but he hugs me tighter. He’s hard again.

  “Daisy,” he whispers, “don’t deny me, please.”

  “Do I ever?” I sound disappointed in myself.

  “You could if you want.”

  “I thought you were leaving?”

  “Do you want me to go?”

  I stare into his eyes. Belmont is here in the flesh. Four and a half months without him felt like a very long time spent in limbo. When I first met him, his eyes were mostly hazel. Tonight they’re a combination of blue, green, and hazel. The flecks are never in the same arrangement.

  I shake my head. Belmont takes my hand and leads me to the bed. He lays me down, parts my legs, and puts his mouth on my pussy. We’ve only just begun. I’ll let him do whatever he wants. After all, he is entitled.

  I moan…

  CHAPTER TWO

  A Chipped Heart

  My eyelids are heavy. The clock on the nightstand says it’s 1:34 p.m. It’s past my check-out time, and I’ve missed my flight back to L.A. It takes all my energy to sit up. My body feels as if I put it through a strenuous workout last night.

  Belmont seizes my waist. “Where are you going?”

  “To the bathroom.”

  His tongue and lips make out with the small of my back. I inhale. It’s such an erotic sensation.

  “Hurry up,” he says and lets go.

  I pee and study myself in the mirror. Belmont has left passion marks all over my neck and on my waist and hips too. My nipples are tender, and so is the entrance of my pussy. I have no idea where Belmont gets his stamina. He comes, and ten minutes later, he’s back up. He says it’s not him, it’s me. He says he’s never been so aroused by a woman, but I don’t believe him. That would make little old me a powerful sexual stimulant, which is insanely ridiculous.

  I wash my hands, rinse with mouthwash, and wipe the stickiness off of my belly. We did it six times throughout the night, and Belmont never came inside me. Instead, he came on me. I don’t really like it, but I’m happy he’s honoring my wishes.

  As soon as I climb in bed, Belmont gathers me against him. His penis is erect. He parts my legs and plunges his fingers inside me.

  “You’re so hot,” he whispers, pinning his cheek against mine. His fingers shift in and out, and he strokes my G-spot, which makes me gasp. “I need to go take a leak.”

  We kiss.

  “Damn it,” he complains and abandons me to empty his bladder.

  I feel sexual again. Just to prove it, I fuck two of my fingers and roll my thumb around my clit. Belmont’s right—it’s hot, wet, and very tight. In and out my fingers plunge.

  “Oh shit,” Belmont wheezes when he sees me.

  In a matter of seconds, he pins my hands over my head and shoves his rock-hard dick inside me. I gasp.

  “You’ve made me jealous of you,” he says.

  I chuckle. “I’ve never been this horny in my life.”

  He jabs me with his erection. “And I’ve never had pussy as tight as yours.”

  I feel his girth and width. Belmont grabs my hips and angles his penis to rub my sensitive spot. I claw the pillow as he bounces me against his dick. He’s in control, handling me as though I’m as light as a feather. I scream as my walls pulsate around his throbbing penis. Belmont moans, thrusting me deeper, faster, harder… He lets go inside me.

  “No!” I shriek and try to squirm out of his grasp.

  He holds me tighter. I don’t move a muscle, and we don’t say a word. Belmont kisses and nibbles my shoulder. He massages my breasts and pinches my nipples.

  I force my body to not respond. “Why did you do that?”

  “What are you afraid of?”

  “You know what I don’t want.”

  Belmont pulls out, and our juices pour out of me. I curl into a ball and listen to him zip his pants. I’m still horny, but I have to process what just happened.

  “I just don’t want us to make the same mistake twice.” I wait for
him to respond.

  He’s all dressed when he bends over to kiss my forehead. “I’ll call you.” He casually pulls open the door and leaves.

  I let my gaze linger on the door for the longest time. The silence and stillness isn’t as peaceful as it was when he first walked out on me. It feels as if he’s gone for good this time. Tears roll freely from my eyes. Yes! I’m crying. I am part of the human race.

  The room phone rings. I open my eyes. It’s dark, and I check the time on the clock. It’s six o’clock. Belmont’s scent rises from the abandoned side of the bed. When he and I committed to spending the night together, we turned our cell phones off so that we wouldn’t be disturbed. I stretch across the mattress to answer the call.

  “Hello?” I sound hoarse.

  “Daisy?” the man sounds surprised to hear my voice. “Hi.”

  “Dexter?” I ask, remembering that I gave his assistant my itinerary.

  “We just took a chance and tried you at this number. You’re still in Chicago?”

  I flip onto my back and sigh. “I missed my flight.” Belmont must’ve paid for the extra day because the front desk hasn’t called, nor have the cleaners knocked on the door.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I guess I owe you an answer.”

  “Not if you’re going to say no.”

  “Okay, I’ll do it,” I say, choosing to go against Belmont’s wishes.

  It’s Wednesday. We decide I should be in the office on Monday. I power on my cell phone and set it on the desk while I take a quick shower. I dry off and check my messages. I delete all the ones from Dexter and his assistant. Maya called twice asking if I want to have lunch this week. She and I have rekindled our friendship. She and Adrian, my ex-boyfriend, actually tied the knot. There’s one message from Maggie. She wants me to call her right away. I rebook my flight before ringing her back.

  “Hi, Mags,” I say after she answers. I zip my jeans.

  “What’s this about Vince conceptualizing a traveling show for you?”

  “You talked to Belmont?”