by Janice Sims
Nick broke off the kiss to caress her cheek and peer down into her beloved face. “Baby, that night we saw each other again, I swore that I would have my say no matter what. You had to know how much I regretted my actions. I don’t want to regret anything about my relationship with you, so from now on I’m going to just say what’s on my mind. I love you.”
Belana gasped. She was unbelievably happy to hear him say that. She opened her mouth to say she loved him, too, but Nick bent his head and kissed her again, interrupting her.
When he raised his head, he smiled at her. “Please don’t say you love me if you’re not sure. I’m patient, I’ll wait.”
“I would marry you tomorrow,” Belana told him, smiling wonderingly up at him.
Stunned, Nick grinned. “I think I can arrange that,” he said softly. Truthfully, he knew judges and politicians who could probably pull it off. However, he’d said that to let her know he was not averse to the notion of marrying her right away.
Belana calmly began unbuttoning his shirt. “We could go to Vegas.” She then reached for his belt buckle, but Nick had no patience and quickly got out of his pants himself. He was standing in his boxer briefs and socks now.
“Or fly to Mexico,” Nick said, helping her off with the shirt by wriggling his broad shoulders. Belana pulled the shirt off him and tossed it onto the foot of the bed. Now his chest was bare. She bent and kissed him between his pectorals. She felt him quiver at her touch.
“Unzip me,” Belana said, turning around to present her back to him. Nick unzipped the pale yellow silk dress and pulled it over her head. Belana took it and gently laid it on the back of the chair sitting in front of her vanity. Nick looked with satisfaction at her golden-brown body in the skimpy lacy bra and bikini panties.
He reached up, tipped her head back, and kissed her throat. Her warm, silky skin smelled faintly of fresh flowers. He breathed her in. Then he flicked his tongue out and licked her. Belana went weak in the knees. An insistent, yet very pleasurable aching began between her legs and she could no longer wait to have him inside of her.
She grasped the waistband of his boxer briefs. Nick smiled, took the hint, and finished undressing himself while Belana slipped out of her bra and panties.
Eyes locked, Belana stepped backward until her legs touched the edge of the bed. She sat down demurely but upon sitting, opened her legs. Nick’s gaze lowered. His heartbeat sped up. Formerly she had been the way nature made her, but now she had been shorn except for a patch shaped like a heart. His erection practically stood up and saluted.
Belana smiled and crossed her legs. “You like?”
Nick laughed. “You have to ask?”
Belana looked pointedly at his erection. “I guess not.” She got up and retrieved a condom, tore it open, dropped the wrapper on to the nightstand and went to Nick. “Allow me.”
She knelt, put the condom at the tip of Nick’s manhood, and gently rolled the latex sheath on to him. This done, she kissed his thigh. Nick groaned softly, reached for her hand and helped her to her feet.
He pulled her roughly against him, her breasts crushed against his hard chest. Belana smiled; she liked a lot of physicality during sex. She wanted to sweat and pant and give everything she had to the effort.
Nick threw her on to the bed and straddled her. Their eyes met. He growled and kissed her deeply. Belana, not one to lie down in submission, wrestled him on to his back and straddled him. Rising up, she took his penis in her hand and guided it inside of her. Slowly, she lowered her body on to it until their groins were rubbing together.
“Oh, yeah,” she whispered. With her eyes closed, her long, curly hair hanging down her back, and her nipples erect, to Nick she looked like some nameless African goddess in the throes of passion. He tried his best not to come too soon, but it was difficult not to because he was so turned on he was about to burst.
Belana opened her eyes and watched Nick. He was hitting on just the right spot, his thrusts sure and hard, just the way she liked them. How was it that every time they made love it was always as if it were the first time? To her delight, she discovered something new about him with each encounter.
This time she had noticed he liked squeezing her butt as she straddled him. Good thing, because it turned her on as well. The harder he squeezed the closer she came to completion. She felt the intense pressure building. In the beginning it felt far away and she could feel it gaining power with each wonderful thrust. Now it was so close…. She pumped him a bit harder. Nick removed his hands from her bottom and reached up to gently pearl her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers. Then he rose up at the waist and took one of them into his mouth. Belana clutched his head to her breast, it felt good. That’s when she came. She let go of his head, Nick lay back flat on his back and met her frantic thrusts with equal passion. Belana collapsed on top of him. He held her, whispering, “I love you. I love you.”
He felt the throbbing walls of her vagina. It only made him harder.
Belana breathed against his cheek, “Take what’s yours.”
Nick easily turned her over on to her back and was inside of her in an instant. Belana sighed with pleasure. How did he do that? His engorged member was right on her sweet spot. She felt inadequately prepared for another meltdown, yet hoped for it.
Nick’s body was a well-oiled machine. Powerful muscles playing under glistening dark brown skin, so mesmerizing to watch that Belana almost wished she were a voyeur and not a participant. She wished this only for a second because if she were simply watching she would not be experiencing her second orgasm right…now. Nick let out an impassioned moan and, God’s truth, Belana felt the heat of his seed rushing into the tip of the condom. That was a baby, she thought jokingly.
Nick fell on to his side and pulled her into the crook of his arm. They smiled into each other’s eyes. “Baby,” he said, “just tell me it was a woman who left that bit of artwork on your, um…sweet place.”
“What if I said it was a guy?” Belana teased him.
Frowning, he sat up and glared at her. “What!”
“Just kidding, it was a woman,” Belana said, laughing and pulling him down for a kiss.
When they came up for air, Nick said, “For future reference, I like you without the grass being mown.”
Belana smiled. “It’ll grow back.”
They spooned. Nick said in her ear, “Tell me about your week. Five days without you is much too long.”
“I auditioned for the role of Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Belana told him. “I’ll find out next week if I got it.”
“Do you really want it?” asked Nick.
“So much I can taste it,” said Belana with a wistful sigh.
“Then you’ll get it,” said Nick with confidence.
Chapter 9
The next morning Belana and Nick went for a run together in Central Park. Afterward they came back to her apartment, showered and Nick made breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. Belana’s refrigerator was in sore need of restocking. She had grocery shopping on Saturday’s agenda.
While they were eating, her phone rang and she got up to answer it. She picked up the phone on the counter of the kitchen nook and propped her butt on the stool, smiling at Nick as she did so. Not bothering to check Caller ID, she said, “Hello?”
“She says she just wants to be friends,” Erik said without preamble. His voice sounded so bereft that Belana, concerned, stood straight up as if poised for action should he tell her he had a gun in his hand and was seriously considering suicide.
“What did you say to her?” she asked softly. She made her voice sound calm even though she wasn’t feeling that way.
“I told her how I felt about her,” said Erik with a sad sigh. “I feel like a fool for confessing my undying love when all she wants to be is my friend.”
“Wait, Erik,” Belana cautioned him. “I’m sure she gave you a reason why she just wants to be friends.”
“Because she doesn’t trust her judgment where
men are concerned,” Erik provided.
“I was afraid of that,” said Belana.
“Now you tell me you were afraid of that?” cried Erik. “You couldn’t have mentioned it before I made a fool of myself?”
“Well, I thought it might be a possibility given her experience with men. We talked about that, remember? She’s been hurt before. Look, sweetie…”
“Uh-oh,” said her brother. “You only call me sweetie when you have some really bad news.”
“I wouldn’t call it bad news,” said Belana. “It could eventually be the best thing you could do.”
“Go on,” said Erik cautiously. “Even though I’m beginning to think I shouldn’t take your advice.”
“If she wants you to be her friend, then be her friend, Erik. Don’t make any romantic overtures. Be there when she needs you.”
“How long am I expected to be a dope?” Erik asked.
Belana laughed. “That’s not being a dope. You’ll at least be a part of her life. Stop thinking that you have to have her now or you won’t have her at all. Love takes time.”
“But how long, Belana?” Erik insisted on knowing.
“Give her a year,” Belana suggested.
“A year?” her brother bellowed.
“What is a year compared to spending the rest of your life with the woman you love?” asked Belana reasonably.
Erik sighed again. “When you put it that way, I guess it’s not so long.”
“Besides, I’m being pessimistic when I say a year,” his sister told him. “I doubt it’ll take her that long to realize how wonderful you are.”
“Oh, she already knows how wonderful I am,” Erik said. “She kissed me and said I deserved someone who didn’t have such a poor track record with men. She said she wished I’d told her how I felt before she started dating that pretty-boy actor because she’s always been attracted to me.”
“See!” cried Belana.
“But what good does that do me when she’s sworn off men?” asked Erik helplessly.
“None whatsoever,” Belana said, not mincing words. “But there is hope.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll cling to hope like some drowning sailor hanging on to the last vestiges of his wrecked boat.”
“Boat, that’s it!” cried Belana, her brain working overtime. “Ana loves boats. And you have that cabin cruiser. Take her on the boat for a weekend cruise, as friends. Don’t even look at her with puppy-dog eyes. Just have a good time.”
“Do you think she’ll go?”
“The girl has a broken heart,” Belana said, listing the reasons why. “She’s been working like a dog for the past year and is overdue for a real break. She’ll go. She likes you and she feels safe with you. Two things a woman values, believe me.”
“I’ll ask her,” Erik decided. “Gotta run, sis, tell Nick hello for me.”
“How did you know Nick was here?”
“Please,” said Erik, “the way you two were carrying on last night, where else would he be?”
“Erik says hello, Nick,” Belana said to Nick.
“Hello, Erik!” Nick called.
Erik laughed on his end. “Bye, baby girl.”
“Bye,” said Belana and hung up the phone.
She went to sit back down. Her eggs had gotten cold. She got back up to warm them a few seconds in the microwave.
“Nick and Ana are having problems?”
“How did you know about Nick and Ana?”
“They left the party together last night,” Nick explained.
“You’re very observant.” Her eggs warmed, Belana carried her plate back to the kitchen table and sat down.
“I try to be,” he said. “I also surf the Net and I know that Ana just found out her boyfriend cheated on her. That must not be easy for her to deal with, having your personal business all over the Net and the tabloids.”
“Yeah, Erik is going to have a hard time breaking through the wall she’ll undoubtedly erect around her heart,” Belana said with a note of sadness.
Nick reached across the table to grasp her hand. “True love is worth it.”
Belana smiled her agreement. She’d just put a forkful of scrambled eggs in her mouth.
The following Tuesday morning when Belana arrived for rehearsals, she was met by one of the company’s chief choreographers and told she would be dancing the role of Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Belana was so thrilled she practically sailed through that day’s full day of rehearsals which lasted six hours with only a break for lunch.
When she got home, she was so tired she could barely drag herself into the shower. But the hot shower revived her somewhat and a bowl of hearty chicken noodle soup chock full of vegetables went a long way toward making her feel like herself again.
She was sitting in front of the TV with it tuned to CNN when she realized she hadn’t yet told anyone she had been offered the role of Titania. After she had been given the news she had gone straight to dance class. Over lunch, which she’d shared with Suri and several other dancers, talk had been about the new season and who would be going up for which roles and why wasn’t so and so picked over so and so. Sometimes the business could make a dancer very insecure about her abilities. Belana tried to be encouraging to everyone, assuring them that their chance to shine would come someday, too.
Now she sat alone on her couch, not really paying attention to what was on the TV screen, wondering why she was alone on her couch not paying attention to what was on TV. She missed Nick, who was in Seattle. One of his clients, she couldn’t remember his name, but he had gone to rehab for alcoholism, was in danger of being let go because he had fallen off the wagon. Nick told her over the phone that he didn’t know what he could do, but the client’s wife had sounded so distraught, he had had to go.
She could tell by the sound of his voice that he also was upset that one of his clients, and obviously a friend, could lose his livelihood because of alcoholism.
She didn’t want to interrupt him.
She picked up the cordless that was on the coffee table. Her father was the person to phone. He and Isobel were at their Connecticut house. Her grandmother, Drusilla, made it her permanent home, but her father and stepmother were only there a few weeks out of the year. They lived mostly in a Manhattan apartment and also loved to stay at their house in Hawaii when they wanted to leave the world behind.
Her stepmother, Isobel, answered the landline number. “Hi, baby, how are you?”
Even the sound of her stepmother’s voice soothed Belana. She’d known her for nearly as long as she’d known her daughter, Elle. Elle had taken both her and Patrice home with her the first Christmas after they’d met and Isobel had welcomed the girls with open arms. She was a fantastic cook and made the girls their favorite dishes and even taught them to cook on weekend visits. They’d made her home in Harlem their getaway from school.
“Hi, Mom,” said Belana. “I’m doing really well. How’re you and Daddy and Grandma?”
“All well,” said Isobel. “Your grandmother’s arthritis is acting up but you didn’t hear that from me.”
She and Belana laughed shortly. Drusilla hated being reminded of her age. She claimed she was as young as she felt and most days she felt like she was thirty, forty on a bad day. She was actually eighty.
“I’m just calling to tell you and Daddy I’ll be dancing the role of Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in December.”
Isobel screamed in her ear. She knew Belana had been coveting that role for quite a while. Belana heard her stepmother yelling, “John, John, Belana’s going to be Titania!”
Her father, who must have been in his study, Belana guessed, suddenly picked up an extension and cried, “Way to go, Titania! I’m so proud of you.”
Belana felt their love. She was reminded of the time her father had told her she was the best Sugar Plum Fairy he’d ever seen. Then she remembered on which occasion that had been and some of her joy dissipated. She wondered if her mother ever thought o
f her and Erik.
“Thanks, Daddy,” she said.
“Listen, Drusilla wants to have Thanksgiving here this year,” her father was saying before she realized she’d been daydreaming about her mother. “Invite your gentleman friend.”
Belana smiled at her father’s terminology. He was old-fashioned in some ways. “Well, I wouldn’t want to invite him without his daughter and his mother,” she said. “They’re like a unit.”
Her father’s voice was full of cheer. “Bring them all, darling, the more the merrier.”
“I’ll invite them,” Belana promised.
“Wonderful,” enthused her father. Then he said, “Is there something else you wanted to tell me? You sound kind of melancholy.”
“I was just thinking of Mari,” said Belana. “That always makes me sad.”
“Darling, you have to let it go,” said her father. “She missed out on knowing you and Erik. It’s her loss. Don’t let it color your enjoyment of your own life.” He cleared his throat. “I hear from Erik that you’re very fond of your young man.”
“I’m in love, Daddy,” said Belana, this time with a happy lilt to her voice.
“She’s in love, Izzie,” said her father, using his nickname for his wife.
“I’m so happy for you,” Isobel said on her extension. “We can’t wait to meet him.”
“Soon,” Belana said. She said goodbye shortly after that and picked up the remote and changed the channel from the news to a classic movie on the American Movie Channel. Cary Grant, James Stewart and Katharine Hepburn were having a ball in The Philadelphia Story. She was laughing out loud before she knew it.
The day before Thanksgiving, Belana was walking from her morning dance class, about to enter the subway when someone yelled out her name. She turned around and saw Suri running toward her, her dark wavy hair flying behind her. “Belana, are you in a rush to get home? I really needed to talk to someone.” Her large brown eyes pleaded with Belana to say she could spare some time. Although Belana wanted to get home to relax a bit, she said yes and they wound up going to The Cupcake Café, a nearby bakery, and ordering cups of coffee.
