“Yes really,” she replied, twirling around him playfully. “I feel so uninhibited, so unrestricted out here with you,” she added as her eyes danced with excitement.
Mitch smiled back at her before he asked, “I just don’t get it. I mean, wouldn’t you rather be out here walking along this nearly deserted beach on this absolutely beautiful night with someone more your own age, someone who has more in common with you?” He gave her a polite look.
“You really do have a problem with the age thing, don’t you? Why does that bother you so much, Mitch? I don’t have a problem with your age.” Before Mitch could speak, Sophia said, “Guys my age act so childish and silly, they make me laugh. I don’t really have much in common with guys my age.”
“And how old is that?”
“Don’t you know a woman never tell her age?”
“It really doesn’t matter,” he lied. “I was just wondering.”
As Sophia looked at Mitch, all she could think about was that Mitch’s strong, masculine and chiseled, caramel brown skinned face and body reminded her of a light skinned version of the handsome Djimon Hounsou in Calvin Klein underwear, whose image used to be plastered on large billboards around the country. Mitch exuded a thoughtless kind of sensuality.
Although Sophia was 5”8, Mitch was at least 6”4 with everything hared in the right places and that nice six-pack he was sporting was a delicious bonus. He boasted a generous head of dark hair, a perfect nose, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with his full luscious lips. But what struck Sophia most about Mitch were his eyes. The warm, wide set, mesmerizing, sexy as hell, hazel eyes were catlike hypnotizing and were the most gorgeous eyes Sophia had ever seen. If she could have made love to Mitch’s eyes, the pleasure would have been hers. She would have done so in a heartbeat.
Sophia knew Mitch was older than she was and even if he hadn’t told her, she would have guessed that he was married. Men like Mitch would not have escaped some woman snatching him up and making him her own. He looked like the kind of man who didn’t have any trouble getting his fair share of women in his day or even today for that matter. But Sophia didn’t care. Every woman for herself, she thought.
“I am old enough,” she answered, smiling sexily at him. “I am a woman and I know what I want. That makes me old enough, doesn’t it?”
Sophia turned to look at him as they continued to walk. “How old do you want me to be?”
“I don’t know,” he chuckled. “Thirty-five, forty maybe,” he teased.
Sophia laughed. “Well, I am not forty or even thirty-five, at least not yet, but age is not important. It ain’t nothing but a number. You remember,” she said and she began to sing the lyrics to Aaliyah’s song that she was referencing. She moved her feet in a dance move and snapped her fingers to the tune.
“Yeah, I know the song.”
“Well, that should stop you from being concerned about my age and you being an old man. It’s boring and I don’t want to hear it.” Her fierceness caught him off guard. His eyes grew wide. In a gentler voice she added, “Mitch, I’m attracted to you and that’s easy. I look at you and I like what I see.” She lifted a hand and touched the side of his face. “You are kind, you are thoughtful, and you are funny in a good way. We enjoy each other’s company. What’s not to like? You are enjoying my company, aren’t you?”
“Yes, very much,” he had to admit. His hazel eyes gleamed at her.
“Then what’s the problem?” She sounded exasperated.
“I didn’t say there was a problem,” he said, but the heat and the feel of her body against his when he held her as they danced was etched in his memory, and she was causing the same kind of sensation now so whether he wanted to admit it or not, that was a problem—with a capital P.
“But you’re acting like it is and I don’t know why you feel that way. We’re not hurting anyone,” she said and walked off ahead of him. Then suddenly she turned, looked at him, her eyes holding his. “Do you want to make love to me, Mitch?”
He didn’t respond—couldn’t respond. Again, he was taken aback by Sophia’s boldness. He didn’t know whether he should be flattered and attracted by this young woman’s behavior or run like hell away from it.
Interrupting his thoughts, Sophia’s beautiful mouth was unsmiling when she asked, “Well, do you?” Her mouth formed a perfect circle on the words, ‘do’ and ‘you.’
He shook his head no but his eyes told a different story, and she told him so.
“That’s not what I am hearing in your voice, what I am feeling in my heart or what I know in my soul. But more importantly, it’s what I am seeing in your eyes and you know as well as I do that the eyes never lie. The eyes are the window to our souls. Your eyes are telling an entirely different story.”
He took his eyes from hers. He decided that might be best because one more look into those beautiful, dark, sexy pools that stared back at him may become one look too many.
“Are you serious right now?” He tried to act casual, as if what she’d said was far from the truth. Sophia stood back and silently watched him, a telltale look on his face. “What?” he asked, feeling a little uncomfortable.
“You do want to have sex with me!”
“No,” he replied almost too quickly that time. Hell, he was damned if he did or damned if he didn’t.
“You’re lying,” she accused with ease and confidence. “Not only do your eyes betray you, but you can’t even trust my friend down below either,” she said, indicating Mitch’s penis as she giggled.
Mitch didn’t speak. All he could do was shake his head. He had met a lot of women in his time but none quite like Sophia. She was bolder than anyone he had seen in a while. “You can admit it,” she continued. “I won’t tell anyone. Besides,” she looked around in a sweeping gesture, toying with him or rather torturing him… and enjoying it, “there’s no one around for me to tell. So you see.. your secret is safe with me.”
“I told you, Sophia, I’m a married man, and even if, for some crazy reason, I did want to make love to you, I couldn’t or more to the point, I just wouldn’t.”
“Why?”
Mitch looked at Sophia for a moment, then without answering her question, he said, “you are a gorgeous girl and I’m sure you’ve got lots of guys lined up wanting to be with you.”
“And?”
“I’m just saying.”
“I’m very selective, and I hadn’t found what I’ve been looking for until now. I know what I want, Mitch.” She stared into his eyes and with a sinful smile plastered across her face said, “And, so do you. It’s in your eyes.”
“Either you’ve had too much to drink,” Mitch said in good humor, “or you have a dirty little mind.” He was trying to play it off, but the intense desire reflecting in his eyes revealed the truth, causing her spirits to soar.
Her body dangerously close to his again, she said, “Liar,” and pressed her body hard against his before she walked away from him, giggling.
“You really are flirting with me, aren’t you?” He grinned, continuing to make light of their conversation as he followed her.
“Absolutely,” she said casually, with an exaggerated wiggle of her shapely hips. She was like a modern day Eve tempting Adam with flesh on a body that was pure perfection—captivating.
“Our body language always gives us away, you know. We could very easily allow our bodies to finish our conversation. I know you want that just as much as I do, but you would feel guilty and think you were a terrible man if you admitted it. That’s the kind of man you are,” she hesitated a moment before walking away and over her shoulder, she finished her statement. “I think.”
Mitch caught up with her, took her by her arm, and turned her so that she could face him.
“Look Sophia, it’s not that I don’t find you attractive because I do. I’ve been saying all night that you are one gorgeous woman, but I am married. My wife and I are here on vacation. In another few days we will be going back to our lives i
n Philadelphia and you and I will probably never see each other again…..”
Sophia interrupted him. “I am not asking you to marry me.”
“I’m not sure what you are asking of me,” Mitch grinned. “What is it that you think you want from me?”
“Do I have to spell it out?”
Mitch gazed into her eyes, giving her a knowing look. “Let’s be serious. We both know that ain’t gonna happen.”
Without wavering, she returned his gaze. “Are you happy, Mitch?”
“Yeah,” he released her shoulders and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Reasonably so but who’s happy all the time?”
“What do you want most in life?”
He looked at her a moment before he responded. “That’s easy,” he began. “I’d like to become a grandparent, to be able to take care of my family the way they deserve to be taken care of and I’d like to live a long, healthy, and happy life. Is that asking too much?”
“Not at all. It doesn’t take much to make you happy.”
“No, it really doesn’t. I’m a rather simple man.”
“I don’t agree with that.”
“No?”
“Of course not.”
“You have your own opinion, Ms. Clairvoyant.”
“Are you laughing at me?”
“Not really,” he said and asked, “and what is your heart desire?”
Sophia’s voice became very soft and her eyes began to dream when.
“I like living my life. I don’t want to live in a bubble or conform to anyone else’s standards or rules. I don’t want life to just pass me by. I want to feel it as I live it. I have just got to feel things. You know what I mean?”
Mitch thought for a moment. That was exactly how he would prefer to live his life, only that wasn’t how it had turned out.
“Yes, I do. I know exactly what you mean.”
As time passed, it seemed perfectly natural to her. “If I could have anything I want, it would be you,” she replied matter of fact.
Mitch’s head snapped in her direction. “What?” He was incredulous. “That is insane,” he said, shaking his head, humor glinting in his eyes.
“Not really. I just know that I want you. I have everything else.”
Mitch gave a little chuckle. “Are you always so sure about what you want?”
“Yes, I am.”
“That could get you into a lot of trouble.”
“Now that you have sufficiently warned me, what are you going to do with that?”
He pulled his hands out of his pockets. He reached down and picked up another seashell that he examined before tossing it back into the ocean after noting its flaws.
“Not a thing, little momma,” he said as he lapsed into silence.
In the quiet that ensued, Sophia shared that she was an only child to wealthy, society, country club type parents who would commit suicide or have Mitch killed if they knew he was walking on the beach with their precious daughter.
“Then we, or should I say I had better not get caught,” Mitch quipped which lightened the mood.
Sophia dropped her stilettos and purse in the sand. She reached her arms up around Mitch’s neck. “I do want you, Mitch, and I want you now!”
Her gaze flickered over his mouth. Then a terrible urgency gripped her, pushing her to go after what she wanted, and what she wanted was to discover more about this man; his taste, his weak spot, what excited him more than the next breath he knew he had to take─ everything. At that moment, she felt an overwhelming desire to taste his well-shaped, sensual lips. She stared into his eyes and pulled him down, wanting to feel his lips on hers, wanting his kiss more than she had wanted anything in her life before. Without further pause, her tongue slid over his lips a moment before she quickly pushed it into his mouth. Initially, his hands went to her shoulders to restrain her, but she held him tighter.
As she kissed him, she did so with a gentleness and restraint he couldn’t deny. Just as he couldn’t deny how much he liked the taste of the kiss and the feel of her soft, sexy body pressing against his, Mitch knew he shouldn’t allow this to happen or having those kinds of feelings. But he couldn’t resist sliding his arms from her shoulders down to her slender waist and pulling her closer to him as he kissed her back. Their first kiss came as a surprise to Mitch but not Sophia. She’d known from the time they stepped out of that club together that this kiss was inevitable. She was just trying to give him the opportunity to realize it as well.
Melting into his strong embrace, her kiss became passionate and womanly. It was everything a kiss should be—urgent, seeking, satisfying and yet curiously unsatisfying, all at the same time, leaving each of them wanting more—much more.
As Mitch began to enjoy the kiss, a pierce of longing so sharp shot through him that it hurt. Suddenly, Sophia tore away from him. She pulled her dress over her head and after tossing it on the ground near her shoes and purse, she ran towards the ocean. At first, she just kicked her feet in the water at the edge. Then quickly, she started advancing deeper into the ocean—the water around her waist now.
A surprised Mitch yelled.
“What are you doing, Sophia? Where are you going?”
She responded with a giggle. Before Mitch realized it, he’d kicked off his shoes, ran into the ocean, and was wading in the water after her. When he caught up to her, she immediately jumped into his arms. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and her legs around his waist and she began kissing him again. This kiss was even more passionate, more intense. He should be breaking speed limits getting away from Sophia but here he was joining her in, making the situation worst.
Mitch sucked her lips and her tongue with such force, that he thought he heard her whimper, trying to cry out. He allowed his tongue to play with hers, to tease it as he rotated his tongue around hers before pulling all of it into his mouth and sucked hard on it until she tore her mouth away to catch a breath.
His mouth brushed her beautiful porcelain cheek. Then he ventured down her neck, kissing and nibbling the soft, delicate skin and finally his mouth returned to hers. He kissed her again and again until the tightening in his groin made him sick. This time, Mitch ended the kiss. He swore silently as he pushed away from her. It took every ounce of strength within him to put a stop to this, but he had to. He simply had to.
“What’s wrong?” she giggled.
“Sophia, this isn’t funny. We’re crossing the line on a number of levels and you know that.”
“And we haven’t even had sex yet.”
Mitch sighed and threw his hands in the air. He felt he had humored Sophia but this had gone on far enough. He decided it was time to go. Get the hell out of dodge. He definitely had to get away from Sophia because his flesh wanted to do so much more to her flesh than he had a right to do.
Interrupting Mitch’s thoughts, Sophia said, “It’s beautiful how the moon magically dips down and embraces the ocean, creating a silvery path across the water as far as the eyes can see. It’s as though we can walk across the ocean and go straight up to the moon. It really is magical,” Sophia said, lifting her head to the sky and wrapping her arms around her middle. “Magic is all around us. All we have to do is look closely and it’s there.”
Mitch was pleased with Sophia’s energy but he was impressed by her intelligence. He focused his eyes in the direction of Sophia and instead of giving her a quick, flippant answer, he surprised himself again.
“There’re so many things that we question about what goes on around us. But in the end, we know that they all are God’s gifts for us to live by, learn from or to simply enjoy.”
“Aaah, that’s sweet,” she said, a dreamy look on her face. “It appears you have some romantic bones in that magnificent body of yours after all.”
Mitch shrugged his broad shoulders and scratched his head. “I suppose to some extent, most of us do.”
After wading in the water a while, Mitch and Sophia walked out of the ocean t
ogether, he picked up her dress and shoes from the ground and handed them to her. Instead of taking the dress from his extended hand, Sophia raised both hands over her head so that he could help her get into it. Mitch held Sophia’s shoes between his thighs and lifted her dress over her head and it settled in place on her body.
“Do you want me to see you back to the club or your hotel?”
For a single second Sophia appeared disappointed. “Must we end the evening so soon?”
Mitch was sorry to have caused her sadness, but he gave her a stern look and answered, “Yes, we really do.”
Sophia made a face. “Well, if we must. Would you please walk with me to my hotel?”
“Sure I will. Are you staying nearby?”
“Look, I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad or rejected because that definitely wasn’t my intention. Sophia, you should never feel rejected by anyone. You really are that special.”
Then her quick, beautiful smile was back and as bewitching as ever. “Thank you and yes, I am staying nearby. Are you going to spend the night with me?”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Mitch said, looking at her. When the look Sophia gave him told him she wasn’t kidding, he said, “No, I’m not spending the night with you, but I will see that you get to your hotel safely.”
For Mitch, safety had absolutely nothing to do with any physical harm coming upon Sophia. He was more concerned with his own. It was a beautiful night. The moon was full and the surf rolled in and out splashing against their ankles.
Sophia responded by reaching over and catching Mitch’s hand. He didn’t pull his hand away. She entwined her fingers with his. Then she looked down at his long and narrow hand with tapering fingers. She lifted her eyes to him again before turning away. There, with their feet planted in the sand, they watched the moon edge its way across the sky marking the judgment of time. There, the comfort they suddenly felt made disclosing their personal histories easy, almost natural.
The Sin, The Sun, & The Shame Page 5
