Pretty Packages

by Dodson, Mi'Chelle

  “I guess you are attracted to petite black women like he was, too,” she said, referring to how small his stepmother was.

  Though Giada was an inch shorter than the five-foot-four woman, neither she nor Hannah were over a hundred and thirty pounds. However, Kentucky’s mother was slender all over. Giada was short and curvy like the actress Salma Hayek. Her lower curves could get almost as wide as Jennifer Lopez’s if she didn’t watch her weight.

  “Although I like women from all ethnicities like my father, I’ve actually taken to dating plus-sized women over the last few years,” Kentucky confessed, gently laying her down on the sofa bed. “I got tired of small ladies either being too scared of me in the bedroom or else unable to handle me.”

  “You don’t scare me.” Anymore, Giada added to herself, remembering that kitchen incident.

  Kentucky chuckled. “I guess not. If I did, you certainly wouldn’t be blackmailing me to sleep with you tonight.” He kicked off his shoes and removed his shirt as he spoke, revealing a tanned chest packed with muscles.

  “I’m not blackmailing you!” Giada felt two kinds of heat envelop her. There was the fire of anger at his words. There was also the fire of desire at the sight of his muscular chest. Really, could the man be any finer?

  Kentucky chuckled again, causing his face to actually look handsome in this light. “All right, so you’re not blackmailing me. But you are guilting me into sleeping with you. By now you know that I don’t like owing anybody anything. And we both know that I owe you big-time for what you did for my family tonight.”

  Giada sat upright, no longer in the mood for sex. “As of this moment, you don’t owe me anything. Consider the slate washed clean. Close the door on your way out.” Then she turned her back to him, lest she be tempted to change her mind since he’d been just about to take off his sweatpants. Giada knew she couldn’t have taken that sight. Seeing Kentucky so aroused through those pants had been enough temptation as it was.

  Kentucky’s tone grew serious. “What’s the matter, Giada? You can’t take a little truth?”

  “Just leave, Kentucky!” she snapped, calling him by his given name now.

  “I’ll go, Giada, but you better make sure that’s what you really want. Because once I walk out that door, you won’t be able to use this little trick on me again.”

  Giada didn’t answer him. Instead she folded her arms defiantly across her chest.

  * * * *

  At her defiant stance, Kentucky shrugged and bent down to retrieve his shirt. Coming over here tonight had been a bad idea anyway.

  And to think, Kentucky had counted down the hours to seeing Giada again. He’d waited somewhat impatiently for his stepmother to go to sleep just so that he could sneak over to keep his word. He hadn’t wanted to give Hannah, or even himself, the wrong idea about him and Giada.

  Like Giada, Kentucky knew this was a onetime thing. He wasn’t about to allow himself to think otherwise. Now even that was over.

  As Kentucky redressed, Giada continued to silently sulk. Instead of sitting on the sofa bed, she got up and went around the room blowing out candles and turning lights on.

  Kentucky smirked at her ire. It amused him. It kind of turned him on, too. Now he was starting to have second thoughts about leaving. Why did this woman affect him so deeply? Jumble him up so terribly inside?

  “See you around,” Kentucky said, speaking the first thing on his mind as he made his way to the door.

  “Not if I see you first,” Giada snapped.

  Don’t say anything. Just keep walking to the door, Kentucky told himself.

  “Matter of fact, I wish I had never set eyes on your ugly mug,” Giada continued, twisting the knife in deeper.

  Kentucky had been called ugly many times over the years by many people and had grown a thick skin about his looks. But when Giada said it, it cut deep. It cut real deep.

  Before he knew it, Kentucky had made a beeline for her. His strides were long and swift. He could feel the scowl lines settling into his face.

  With a look of terror, Giada backed up against the wall when she saw the large man coming toward her. She looked too scared to even scream.

  “I may be ugly, but I most definitely know how to make beautiful love to a woman,” Kentucky said, towering above her. “In fact, if tonight had gone down, I would’ve had you screaming my name so loud that the neighbors would have awakened and called the police back out here. I would’ve spoiled you for all those punk pretty boys you seem to like so much. After one night with me, all your body would have wanted for years is me, me, and more me.”

  Giada didn’t look fearful now. Now she looked inundated with passion. She even moaned.

  Kentucky’s hard gaze grew even more intense as he watched her chest rapidly move up and down with rising desire. He knew she wanted him. He could smell her heat. His body instantly became rigid again knowing that he was the cause of such potent desire.

  Needing to remind Giada of what just one kiss from him could do, Kentucky lowered his mouth to hers.

  Once again, Kentucky put his all into their kiss. Unlike Giada, he wasn’t trying to impress anyone with his expertise. This was simply the way he functioned in his life—all or nothing. There was no half-stepping with him.

  With a greedy moan, Giada immediately welcomed his tongue into her mouth. She sucked hard. Her hungry hands flew to his chest, found their way underneath his shirt, and touched that smooth, tanned skin of his.

  Kentucky moaned at her touch, broke the kiss, and lowered the straps to her teddy. He bent to taste her breasts. Moving from one taut peak to the other, he feasted. His little nibbles at the end caused her to shudder violently. When he dipped a hand into Giada’s cavern, he noted that her underground river of desire had already started to flow downward.

  Groaning with need at her readiness, Kentucky withdrew, and scooped her up in his arms again. In no time they were on the sofa bed. After laying her down, he took that time to kick out of his shoes and remove all of his clothes this time. Things were about to get very serious between them.

  * * * *

  While Kentucky undressed, Giada used that time to just look at him in full light. Her breath caught. Her body started to tremble as she gazed upon him in all of his glory.

  The.

  Man.

  Was.

  Super-fine!

  A Mr. Universe if she ever saw one.

  Eyes dripping with lust, body sizzling with hot desire, Giada practically ripped the teddy from her body. Who cared that it cost her two hundred dollars? She’d get another man to buy her a new one since she deemed Kentucky too poor to afford such things.

  Flinging the thin material aside, Giada tugged Kentucky down to the sofa bed. He willingly went, but would not place the whole of his weight upon her no matter how much she tried to pull him closer.

  “I need you closer, Kenny,” Giada said in frustration, tugging to no avail yet again.

  “I’m too heavy for you, baby,” Kentucky told her. Then he rectified the situation by rolling sideways and pulling her on top of him.

  Giada instantly lowered her lips to his. She kissed him deep. She kissed him long. She kissed him as if he was about to take a long trip and she didn’t know when or if she’d ever see him again.

  * * * *

  Feeling more wanted than he ever had in his life, Kentucky returned each and every flicker Giada gave him. He sucked her tongue. He tasted every crevice of her sweet mouth.

  Kentucky allowed his hands to roam her frame. He enjoyed the silkiness of her mocha skin and the lushness of her curves. He loved the way Giada’s supple bottom fit perfectly in his large palms as he gently squeezed her lower cheeks. If only his hands were a little bigger, he’d be able to cover the whole circumference.

  Finally breaking the kiss, Giada swiftly positioned herself to ride him. Kentucky could sense her eagerness. He relished it. It was a good thing she was already tropical, because he really was big all over, and thus the extra lubr
ication was needed to increase her comfort level.

  “Be careful with that, baby,” he cautioned. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

  “I can handle it.” Giada looked up at him in challenge. “I can handle it all,” she said, pushing downwards until they were joined to the hilt. They both moaned loudly at the intimacy that ensued.

  Kentucky gave her an intense stare. He liked the way she’d fearlessly taken him on and in. He wanted to devour her now. “Come here, baby,” he said, pulling her closer to him for a ravenous kiss. Timing that moment perfectly, Kentucky thrust his tongue into her mouth and his hips upwards at the same time for optimum pleasure.

  With a gasp of surprise, Giada’s amber pools registered awe. They’d barely begun, and she was climaxing already. Her body trembled like a leaf.

  That reaction had been Kentucky’s intent. Very much aware of her status, he squeezed her lower body closer and began to thrust faster in order to make the moment even better for her.

  * * * *

  A sense of completeness washed over Giada as she received stroke after stroke from Kentucky. Each new stroke was more special than the last. All were rhythmic and fluent.

  Who knew sex could be like this?

  Giada sure didn’t.

  Sex?

  This wasn’t sex. This was making love, which was why she was about to do something that she’d never done in her life—scream.

  As predicted, Giada screamed Kentucky’s name loudly with her release. It would have been even louder if he hadn’t swallowed most of it in his mouth.

  While her body continued to tremble all over, Kentucky stilled completely. He seemed to be relishing the delicious clenching and squeezing around him.

  Giada was helpless to stop her quaking core from telling him everything he needed to know about her right now—that she was officially branded. Why else would she be reacting so strongly to his loving?

  When most of the trembling had stopped, Giada broke the kiss and collapsed onto his chest. She needed time to catch her breath. She also needed to get her bearings back.

  Had she bitten off more than she could chew with this giant of a man? Giada had just had the most powerful orgasm of her life, and Kentucky was still as hard as a rock . . . all over. If her ear wasn’t against his rapidly pounding heart, she would have thought she hadn’t affected him at all.

  Determined to be the one leaving the biggest lasting impression, Giada sat upright again. She began to slowly move her hips upon Kentucky, ready to use her body any way she could to conquer him.

  * * * *

  Kentucky was far from being conquered. Though what Giada was doing certainly felt good, something was wrong. And suddenly he knew just what the problem was.

  The rhythm. It was too casual. It was entirely too bland.

  The rhythm was also too sporadic. Giada kept pausing every five seconds to flip her long hair back over her shoulders. At this rate, it would take forever for Kentucky to reach his peak.

  “Hold up for a second, Giada,” he said, stilling her hips with his hands as he spoke.

  “Hold up? You want me to stop?”

  “Yes, something is off-key here, and we need to fix it,” Kentucky explained gently. “Now those tender strokes and that constant flipping of the hair might turn those pretty boys on, but for a man like me, you got to bring it.”

  “Bring it?” Giada looked confused. “You want it faster?”

  “No, you can keep it slow. Just make sure to work your hips steady and strong. You know, show me how bad you really want me. And forget that you even have hair. Just let it go wherever it wants. I always wondered what you looked like without every hair in place, so seeing you wild will be a big turn-on for me. With all that said, you ready to put it on me, baby?”

  Giada nodded. “Yes.”

  “Well, let’s do this then.” Kentucky grinned, pleased that she had accepted his blunt, yet gently spoken rebuke so well. Then he began to lead by example, showing her exactly how he wanted this ride to go, and a few other things to help heighten the mood.

  * * * *

  Giada was a quick study. Combine that with her natural stamina and she had him going over the edge with a loud shout. Though Kentucky was still far from conquered, she felt a huge sense of accomplishment and power nevertheless at having brought him to his peak so intensely.

  I just might keep him for my boy toy for a long time to come, Giada decided.

  Yet by the time Kentucky left right before dawn, she wasn’t sure if maybe she was the toy now. After being made love to for nearly four hours straight, with barely a break in between, Giada had never felt more pliable in her life. There was nothing Kentucky couldn’t ask of her right now. Or rather there was almost nothing he couldn’t ask of her.

  Giada would have given up anything for Kentucky, except for her gold-digging ways. There was still just too much stuff she wanted in life. Things she didn’t think he could give her now, or ever, for that matter.

  Fortunately for Giada, the only request Kentucky made of her before he left was the opportunity to see her again the next day. He actually asked to see her later that evening since it was already the next day.

  With a smile, a kiss, and the beginning of an unfamiliar emotion stirring in her heart, Giada whispered, “Yes.”

  What she received in return was a tender smile from Kentucky, another one of his toe-curling kisses, and a gently spoken “See you later, baby.”

  Chapter Six

  On Thursday night, Kentucky returned to Giada’s house after work. This time they made love in her bedroom. Everything was done very, very slowly. Every light was on in the room per Giada’s insistence. She claimed that she simply couldn’t get enough of looking at him.

  Knowing that she wanted to make love to him in full light pleased Kentucky immensely. It softened his heart all the more toward her.

  Kentucky found himself becoming even more attached to Giada as she touched and kissed his body from head to toe in an almost worshipful manner. For the first time in Kentucky’s life, he actually felt . . . beautiful.

  And so wanted.

  Giada’s touch was just as hungry as her kisses. And she kept asking Kentucky what else he wanted her to do to and/or with him. She was open to any fantasy he had, and he had plenty. Yet since they both had work tomorrow, they actually only got to experience a few of those fantasies.

  Afterward, they cuddled and just talked. Kentucky found himself more talkative than he’d ever been with any woman after sex.

  He told Giada about his childhood. He talked about how he got the name Kentucky. About the fact that Hannah wasn’t his birth mother as Giada suspected all along due to their different ethnicities.

  He shared how his biological mother was actually a petite Caucasian woman named April who died soon after giving birth to him. And how Hannah was actually his former preschool teacher, who fell in love with his grieving father and eventually married him.

  Kentucky also told Giada about the loss of his father due to a railroad accident. He talked about how that tragic event caused him to grow up very fast, though he was barely a teenager at the time.

  “Somebody had to take care of Mama. She went into deep depression after Papa died, couldn’t work, causing us to almost lose the house,” Kentucky confided. “To help out more financially, I took my GED test in the tenth grade, passed it on the first try, and then went to work full-time.”

  “Wow. You really did have to grow up fast,” Giada said. “Your mother must have eventually snapped out of her depression, because Mrs. Jones is the most positive person I know.”

  “I think seeing me make such a sacrifice with my education snapped Mama out of her depression. She returned to a teaching position in the local school system, enrolled me in college, although I was only sixteen at the time, and insisted that I only work part-time on the weekends so that I could enjoy what was left of my teen years.” Kentucky was downright proud of his stepmother, and it showed in the reverential way h
e spoke of her. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”

  Even now he was missing out on a few high-paying gigs due to his love for Hannah. Kentucky simply refused to leave his stepmother’s side for very long while the neighborhood was besieged by burglars.

  Giada’s eyes grew glossy at his deep love for his stepmother. “I felt the same way about my grandmother, who raised me, by the way, when both of my parents died.” Then she went in depth about her own childhood.

  Giada shared how the girls in the neighborhood used to be so jealous of her naturally long, thick hair. Some wanted to play in it all the time. Others tried to pull it out by prompting fights with her. One girl even tried to cut off Giada’s long ponytail from the seat behind her in elementary class.

  “My grandmother used to comfort me about jealous females in the most unique way,” Giada continued, smiling in memory. “She used to take me to the bedroom, stand me in front of the mirror, and then make me recite, ‘Jealousy will not stick to my soul,’ until it sunk in. That was Granny’s way of showing me how not to let the jealousies of others torment me.”

  “That was unique,” Kentucky acknowledged with a tender smile.

  “Yes, it was. She also taught me to love myself no matter what. My mother must have missed that message because she didn’t seem to love herself at all.”

  “How so?”

  “First of all, she hooked up with a man that didn’t have anything going for him but his looks. My father was one of the most handsome men in the neighborhood, but he was no good. He cheated constantly, and he was a petty thief by trade.” Giada’s eyes grew glossy again, even though there was a touch of anger in her voice. “It was no surprise to any of us when he got killed trying to rob a convenience store.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, baby.” Kentucky gave her a squeeze of comfort.

  Giada blinked her eyes clear. “Thanks, but I think I was more angry than sad about him dying. I was angry about the effect his death had on my mother. About how she literally drank herself to death three years later. That’s why I don’t drink alcohol today.”