“May I offer you something to drink tonight?” the waiter who had approached their table asked.
“Actually, I’ll just have wat—”
“A Diet Coke for her,” Darryl interrupted, not even looking her way. “And I’ll have a martini, onions not olives.”
“I know you prefer diet to regular Coke,” he said with a smile as soon as the waiter left.
She glared at him. It was time to get this over with before he was ordering her dinner.
“Listen Darryl, obviously you know my parents told me about your father’s…generosity,” she had to take a swallow before using the word. She knew there were a million tiny strings attached to his bout of good will.
“I want your family to know that I appreciate it. It means a lot to me and my parents.” She was hoping the inclusion of her parents would remind Darryl that it wasn’t just Bonita’s life that had been impacted, but the pastor of the church that his father attended.
Her voice softened as she came to the final bit. “I know we’ve been seeing each other for a while now. It has been nice, but I just don’t feel a connection with you, Darryl.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” she added hurriedly, hoping to soften the blow, even though he had yet to show any sign of being upset thus far. “You’re a very good looking man, and smart as well. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding a wonderful woman who will feel the way about you that a girlfriend should. I’m sorry Darry, but that woman isn’t me.”
There, it was done.
Bonita watched his face, trying to interpret the stoic expression. Was he hiding his anger? Was he sad? Relieved?
“Here you are,” their waiter said placing the martini glass before Darryl and the Diet Coke in front of Bonita. Her eyes didn’t leave Darryl as he gave the waiter an appreciative smile.
“Are you ready to order, or would you like some more time?”
“Perhaps just five more minutes,” Darryl said, in a surprisingly amicable tone. “I think that’s all the time we’ll need to come to a decision.”
Bonita felt something in her stomach drop.
The waiter nodded deferentially and then backed away.
She waited, unaware that she was ever so slightly sliding away from him in the booth, while he took a sip of his martini.
He set the glass down and looked at her with a patient smile that did nothing to ease the tension growing inside of her.
“I’m surprised, Bonita.”
She blinked in confusion.
“I would have thought someone who grew up so close to Washington D.C. would know how the game works.”
Now he was ever so slightly sliding closer to her. Faster than a rattlesnake, his hand whipped out to grab her wrist.
“Everything comes at a price,” he said, the amicable tone leaving his voice. “Everything.”
“Darryl,” she said, still hoping to reason with him. “Let go of my arm, you’re starting to hurt me.”
He just squeezed harder, pulling her closer to him in the booth. His eyes wandered over her face as if reading a map.
“When I first saw you, you have no idea what you did to me, Bonita. But I waited. I had my father’s career to think about and I knew he wouldn’t approve of an 18 year old getting involved with a 15 year old.”
Bonita briefly recalled that period in her life. She had been flattered at the time, especially since her parents thought so highly of his father.
“Then when you wanted to go running off to Pierre, well, I wasn’t happy, but I let you.”
He saw the incredulous look come over her face, and laughed. “What? Did you honestly think you had the final say in the matter? Why do you think it took so long for your money to go through? That little stunt of yours, getting a job up here before we could finish spending the summer together, that was to teach you a lesson on who is really in charge.”
The fear started to creep in. Her eyes roamed anxiously around the hushed restaurant that she now realized was obviously chosen for the intimate privacy afforded to the patrons. She tried to twist her wrist out of Darryl’s grip.
“Then I saw you with that boy outside your dorm.” Now the deceptive pleasantness was gone, replaced by a slowly simmering rage. His eyes roamed over her body as though inspecting it, wondering if River had touched any part of it, as though she were his property.
“Fortunately for you, this semester was already paid for. I mean really, Bonita,” he gave her a disgusted look. “What would your parents have to say about what I saw?
“More importantly, did you even stop to think about me? The boy who waited patiently? The boy who bided his time, knowing that one day you’d realize that you were meant for me.”
Now she wanted to scream. Something about the solemn quietness of their environment kept it inside of her. She struggled in his firm grip piteously, relying solely on the hope that he wouldn’t dare harm her in public, or at least as public as this place could be.
“In a way, it’s a relief that you know everything,” Darryl said, transitioning so quickly back to his amicable persona that she briefly wondered if the man was Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde.
“Now at least you understand what I’ve always known,” he gave her that patronizing smile again as he leaned in so close she could feel his breath on her face, “you belong to me.”
He let go of her in a flash and the calm, pleasant expression returned. He even slid back away from her a few inches.
The purely animal part of her wanted to run out of there right at that moment. The thing that kept her there was the invisible hold he now had on her. There was something in the calm assurance as he let go of her that let her know the other shoe was about to drop.
“Not only that, your family does belong to the Wests’”
“What?” she blurted.
He gave her that smile she now hated. “Oh come now, you think you’re the only one embroiled in this mess? What would the parishioners of the District AME Church have to say about a pastor using his daughter’s college fund to cover his own ass?”
Bonita gasped. “That’s twisting it—!”
“Not to mention the fact that my father is a powerful man. He doesn’t like being made the fool,” he stared hard at her. “He also doesn’t like it when his son is made the fool. Fool with me, Bonita, and your family is history. There isn’t a church in America that would accept your father as pastor.”
She went numb, processing the depths to which the man she thought she knew could go.
He took a leisurely sip of his martini. “That said, I do have certain expectations Bonita,” he said. He looked her up and down as if assessing her. “First of all that hair; you know I’ve always hated it when you went natural.”
In all honesty, Bonita hadn’t been thinking of him at all when she did her hair tonight. She just hadn’t bothered to flat iron it since River had looked at her that way before their motorcycle ride.
“And the glasses should go. Obviously, I’ll be paying for Lasik.”
The numbness was replaced by a warm, growing sense of dread. “Wait a second, where the heck are you going with this?” she asked suspiciously. “I’m not some object—”
“That’s exactly what you are, Bonita,” he interjected. “Do you think the political line is going to end with my father? Our family dynasty is just beginning. As such, I need a perfect wife.”
“Wife?” she exclaimed, actually yelping out a sharp laugh. “Darryl, did you even hear me? I’m not interested!”
He gave her a look as though she wasn’t quite grasping the big picture. “Bonita, you don’t have to be interested. You just have to be perfect. What better politician’s wife than a pastor’s daughter?
“Speaking of which, I have certain expectations on our wedding night.” He gave her a smile that made her blood run cold. “I expect you not to disappoint me. Like I said, you belong to me…and only me.”
That’s when she did run.
21
Bonita ran for a full
block then slowed down once her feet began to hurt in the heels she had on. She had worn a simple sleeveless black dress and a matching sweater, the color and style being appropriate for the occasion: a formal end to their relationship.
Now she shivered in the cool, late autumn night air. But it wasn’t just the cold that chilled her to the bone, it was the new and terrifying side of Darryl she’d witnessed tonight.
She instinctively looked behind her, worried that he might have followed her out of the restaurant. She breathed a sigh of relief upon finding she was alone.
Still, the shaking wouldn’t stop. If she didn’t pull it together she was worried she might go crazy. She began running again, as much as her heels would allow.
Her conscious mind had no clue where she was headed, it just led her anywhere Darryl wasn’t. Subconsciously, she knew exactly where she was going. To the one place she’d known all along that she wanted to be. The place where she’d find her sanity, her pleasure, her safety.
She reached the front of the building and pressed the buzzer with a rekindled panic, this time based on need rather than fear.
“Hello?” his voice said through the speaker.
“River? It’s Bonita,” she huffed, her breathing heavy from running. She tried unsuccessfully to keep her voice calm.
He must have heard the hysteria in her voice and immediately pressed the buzzer to let her in. “Come inside, I’ll be right down.”
She quickly pulled the door open at the sound of the buzzer and slammed it shut behind her. She immediately saw his figure coming quickly down the stairs, barefoot in nothing but jeans and a t-shirt.
Bonita ran over to meet him, falling into his arms as relief overcame her. She buried her head into his warm chest, letting his arms cradle her body as he soothed her, rubbing her back to ease the tremors that racked her body.
“Shhh,” he cooed into her head. “It’s okay now. Whatever it is, I’m here.”
Once the worst of her shivering had eased and her breath had regained a normal rhythm, he gently led her toward the stairs back up to his apartment. They wordlessly climbed the steps, his arm still firmly wrapped around her shoulders.
In his hurry, River had left his front door wide open. He guided Bonita through into his living room and turned to shut it behind him, making sure that all the locks were engaged for her benefit. Once it was closed he turned back to face her, a questioning look of concern on his face.
She didn’t want questions.
She just wanted him.
Her arms came up around him as she planted her lips on his. As she pressed her body into his, he stiffened in surprise then cautiously brought his arms around her. She pressed herself harder against him letting him know it was fine.
Still, he pulled his lips off of hers.
“Is this what you want, Bonita?” he asked, looking down at her, analyzing her response.
When she had told him “after Saturday” up on the library roof earlier that week he’d had no idea what that meant. He’d taken the initiative to make his place presentable just in case, but he certainly hadn’t expected her to show up Saturday night, and certainly not in the state she was in.
He suspected the infamous Darryl had something to do with it and the rage he felt was only subdued by the obvious passion that had erupted in Bonita, causing her glorious body to be pressed so urgently against his.
Still, he didn’t want her succumbing to something while she was in a state of temporary madness that she might regret later.
“Yes,” she said, and he saw the longing, the need in her eyes.
As if to drive the point home, her hands wandered underneath his t-shirt, pushing it up his stomach as they slid across his abs and back.
River didn’t need any further hints; he quickly pulled his shirt off. She wriggled her arms out of her sweater and let it fall to the floor. He returned his arms around her body, searching for the zipper in back of her dress. In his hurry, his fingers scrambled over it a few times until they were finally able to grab hold.
Meanwhile Bonita was going to work on his fly, just as clumsily trying to unbutton it and pull the zipper down. The fumbling of her fingers so close to home base only spurred his erection on. The instant his fly was undone and his jeans pushed forcefully down his hips, it sprang to life as if signaling the start of the adventure that would occur tonight.
He guided her zipper down her back, his fingers stealing passing glances across her smooth skin as they went. He slid the dress off her shoulders and she stepped out of it, kicking off her shoes at the same time.
River stared at her body, now in nothing but a black bra and bikini underwear. He struggled to pull his legs out of his jeans. She watched him watching her without any indication that she felt shame or embarrassment, fully giving herself to him.
She was even more glorious than he’d imagined. Every curve of her body drew his eye. It was like a buffet of visual delights and his eyes had trouble determining exactly where they should sample from: The perfectly rounded hips? The tiny waist exposing an expanse of smooth brown skin that his fingers itched to touch? The luscious mounds rising up from the lacy edges of her bra? The curvy legs that he’d pictured wrapped around his waist on more than one occasion?
Now that he was in nothing but his boxers, he saw her eyes going through the same conflict, darting from his broad shoulders to his six-pack abs, down to his legs, and settling on the obvious tell-tale sign of his desire that was currently testing the limits of his boxers.
Oh God how Bonita wanted him.
She could easily tell how he wanted her as well, but the taint of the night was still on her. She could feel Darryl’s hands on her wrist, grabbing it. Goosebumps covered the arms that he’d embraced as he reached in to hug her when she first met him at the restaurant. His breath still prickled the skin of her face from when he had informed her she belonged to him.
She wanted him off of her, fully erased from every part of her being.
“Can we take a shower?” she asked.
River blinked in momentary surprise. Then, as though reading her intentions, nodded, taking her hand and leading her toward his bathroom. It was clean and modern with a large glass shower taking up one side of the entire bathroom, fortunately big enough for two.
River reached in to get the water going and she once again admired the way his muscles moved underneath his skin. The purely physical attraction she held toward his body was shameless, but she absolved herself with the knowledge that he was smart and considerate and obviously cared about her.
The fact that she’d felt absolutely comfortable being in her underwear with him was proof that what she was doing was right. As if to further convince herself, she reached behind her back and began unhooking her bra.
The strap came loose just as he turned around to face her. She held her breath as she let the shoulder straps fall down her shoulders and the bra slid down her arms, exposing a part of her that she’d never exposed to another. Her nipples immediately hardened at the sight of his eyes focused on them.
Before she could let any doubt stop her, she guided her hands underneath the waistband of her panties and slid them quickly down her legs. She watched his eyes wander down to her sex, blinking momentarily in some bit of confusion that she didn’t understand. He quickly brought his eyes back up to her with the look of desire that no doubt mirrored her own.
River had been momentarily thrown by the full triangle of hair between her legs. He was so used to seeing no obstruction, or worse, some cutesy-wootsy shape. He found it somewhat refreshing, making her all the more forbidden and desirable. It took him a moment to remember that he was still clothed, something that took him only one second to rectify as he rapidly pushed his boxers down his legs.
He opened the shower door and stepped in, giving her the spot closer to the shower head. Bonita took off her glasses, setting them on the counter by the sink and then stepped in, facing him. He had no idea why she wanted to shower, but it certainly po
sed no problem for him. He was just as happy to be near her naked body while it was wet as he was to be near it while it was dry. Maybe even more so, he thought with a smile. The growing monster between his legs was proof of this as he watched her bring her head underneath the fall of water. The flow streamed down her body in rivers that trailed over her full breasts and snaked down into the forest of pubic hair.
Sweet Lord, help me.
As if noting his need, she brought up the head that she had thrown back. She looked at him behind the wall of water then reached out to pull him closer.
His dick pressed into her soft stomach almost painfully, but she didn’t pull back, instead drawing him even closer. It was more than he could take. If they had to do it here in the shower to start, then so be it. It wouldn’t be River’s first time going that route.
“Bonita, I need…” he breathed over the sound of the water.
She looked up at him with sudden shyness. “River, I—I’ve never….”
She let the rest trail off until River put it together. The triangle of womanly hair between her legs seemed ironically innocent in retrospect.
“Not even with—?”
“No,” she said fiercely, her eyes blazing.
River suddenly understood. She didn’t want Darryl to be her first…or to be her anything.
River felt the rage grow inside of him again. The idea that she had come running to River, willing to give herself to him in defiance of another man her seemed wrong.
He began to pull away. River had no intention of being with her, introducing her to the world of sex simply as a reactionary “fuck you” to her former boyfriend.
“Bonita, we can’t. Not like this,” he said.
In response she looked up at him with conviction in her eyes. “Yes, yes we can. River, I want this. I need this. I have since the first moment I met you.”
22
“I know you want it too, River,” she said to him.
River answered by bringing his head down to kiss her again, feeling the warm spray of water from the faucet hit the back of his scalp as he bent over her.
So Wrong Page 12
