“Anika, just listen,” he softly commanded.
She snorted in derision and broke their gaze, looking past him into the distance.
He decided to start from the beginning. “When I first saw you at Dev and Chloe’s wedding I honestly thought you were one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. So confident and self-assured. I watched you all through the wedding in that dress and I couldn’t wait to find out more about you. ”
Anika hated the way he sounded so truthful . . . just like in New York.
“I finally got Chloe to introduce me to you and you shot me down big time,” he said, amused.
Anika actually smiled. “Because of your lame come-on line.”
Deshawn raised a brow. “It usually works.”
Anika raised a brow as well. “Oh, really?”
“Okay, okay,” he said, sensing an argument looming. “You hurt my feelings—”
“Your ego,” she interrupted with emphasis.
“I admit when I came to New York my intention was to seduce you just to prove to myself that I could have you if I wanted.”
Anika slid her hands into the back pocket of her cords. “Yeah, I overheard you bragging to Devon about it. Look, I’d rather not relive my stupidity, thank you very much,” she said bitterly, tracing her mouth with the tip of her tongue. “Or yours for that matter.”
Deshawn pressed on. “I kinda figured that was the reason you left that morning, but in your rush to flee you didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. I told Deshawn that I felt more than a sexual attraction to you. I fought it, but you captured a piece of me.”
“Is that what you call it?”
“And I was too stupid—”
“Told you.”
“To realize that. I still didn’t want to admit that losing you and thinking about you all these months since New York was love. All love, baby. It didn’t really hit me until the day I picked you up from the airport. I knew it as soon as I laid eyes on you. I love you. That’s why I couldn’t eat and why my taste for other women slacked off—”
“All except Miss Poo-chie, I see,” she snapped, and then hated herself for the show of emotion.
Deshawn rubbed his hands over his eyes. “Poochie and I are over and have been over before I even met you. Trust me.”
“I’ve heard that before, buddy.”
He reached for her hand. “It’s true, Anika. I know I started off wrong but I love you. ”
Anika smirked as she looked up into his handsome face. Oh, if only she could be naive and believe his words. But she wasn’t and so she didn’t. “Have you ever told a woman you loved her before and didn’t mean it?” she asked.
Deshawn was tired of lying and so he remained quiet. The silence was damning.
“I’m glad you succeeded. I’m happy that since it was so important to you, you accomplished your silly little insignificant goal. I only hope that you have more going on in your sad life right now, because it takes a real jerk to do what you did. I wouldn’t give you the time of day, far less my body, again. If what you’re hoping for is a replay of that big mistake I made in New York, forget about it. There is nothing you can say to make me believe you. That is the consequence of being caught lying. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice ... shame on me.”
Impulsively, Deshawn reached and grabbed Anika’s face, quickly lowering his head to hers. “Anika, I’ve never been in love before, but I am now. I want you in my life and in my bed. I want what Chloe and Devon have. You are my destiny, my future. Please believe me. You gotta believe me. I am so in love with you. Let me prove it to you. Give me another chance to be the man I can be and not the man I was.”
Their noses touched as he spoke passionately. Their eyes locked as Anika was unable to look away. In his depths she thought she saw love and truth. His words struck a chord in her, but she just didn’t want to believe. She could not, would not, let him hurt her and fool her again.
He touched his lips down upon hers for a few brief seconds. Anika enjoyed the warm pleasure of it before she stepped back from his presence and his kiss. She never stopped backing away. “Sorry, Deshawn, but there’s no takers for your bull tonight. Just leave me alone.”
With that said she turned and ran, eventually disappearing from his sight as the darkness cloaked her figure.
“Damn.”
∞
Devon moved his nude body closer to Chloe’s where she lay on her side. He moaned in the back of his throat at the good feeling of warmth and security she offered. He loved to sleep with his head above hers, their legs entwined as he pressed his groin to the soft curve of her buttocks. His hands were always on the hard swell of her stomach or lightly cupping the glorious breasts he adored. Burying his face into her neck, he inhaled deeply of her unique scent, a blend of Caress soap, baby powder, and expensive perfume.
“God, baby, your body feels so good,” he moaned, pulling her body back closer to his.
Chloe enjoyed the feel of Devon’s strong-muscled thighs pressed against the back of hers. And she relished the short, soft hairs of his chiseled chest tickling her back. The heat of his semi-aroused length being cupped intimately by her buttocks was a constant thrill. But even as she enjoyed the comfort and security of his arms holding her close, her mind was elsewhere.
How could Deshawn, her beloved brother-in-law and friend, take advantage of Anika like that. . . and under her nose? Why had he done it? Why hadn’t Anika told her?
Her friend had looked so hurt, especially after she came in from her walk.
Devon began placing tiny, moist, and delicious kisses on the back of her neck. Her areolas and nipples, darkened in color and swollen from the changes of her pregnancy, tightened in arousal. Still, she couldn’t give in to the pleasure while her mind was filled with troubles concerning her friend.
“I am so pissed at Deshawn right now, Dev,” she said softly into the darkness of their master suite.
Devon tilted his head up off the pillow to look down onto his wife’s profile. “Now is not the time to be talking or even thinking of my twin.”
He continued with those kisses, his hands lightly playing in the short soft hairs that covered her mound. “I will never get enough of you,” he growled low near her ear before lightly tracing the lobe with the tip of his tongue. He pressed his now throbbing erection against the tantalizing swell of her buttocks.
“I knew Shawn enjoyed his single life but to purposefully lie to my best friend out of childish, sexist revenge? How could he?” she asked, swatting his all too pleasing hands away from her swollen nipples.
Devon used his knee to open her long, shapely legs. He pulled the top one over his own, careful of her swollen abdomen. He had to ease her mind. “Guess what?” he asked suddenly, his tone amused. “Deshawn’s in love.”
Chloe’s eyes widened like minisaucers as she struggled to flip over onto her back.
“With who?’ she asked in disbelief.
Devon took advantage of the new position and moved his hand to caress the slickly wet bud between her legs. “Anika,” he answered smugly.
“No,” Chloe said in exaggerated disbelief and denial.
“Yup. He told me so himself and that’s a first. He has never mentioned a woman’s name and love in the same sentence before.”
There was a frown on Chloe’s face as Devon gently positioned her back on her side. “What else did he tell you that you haven’t told me?” she asked.
Devon paused, sniffing trouble. “Huh?”
“Don’t huh. You heard me. Did you know that Devon went to New York to sleep with Anika out of revenge?” she asked, using her hand against his forehead to push his head from her neck.
Uh-oh.
Devon chose his words carefully. “When Deshawn told us that he was going to New York to shop and sightsee I believed him.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Devon’s body relaxed with relief.
A soft smile lit her face. “You believe he loves Anik
a, Dev?” she asked softly, even as he suckled her neck.
“I believe him . . . but that’s not for you to tell Anika.”
Anika and Deshawn, Chloe thought.
“Trust me, he’s regretting hurting Anika in New York because now she won’t even give him the time of day,” Devon continued.
“Serves him right.”
Devon leaned up to look down at her again. “No matchmaking, Chloe. If it’s meant to be, they’ll work it out alone. Stay out of it.”
“You’re right,” Chloe agreed softly, her mind now ready to focus on the pleasure Devon was eager to give.
Not once during their pregnancy did their sexual hunger fade. Devon found all the changes in her even more alluring and told her so, which in turn made Chloe feel even sexier to her husband.
She gasped as he entered her swiftly, enjoying their mingled moans of pleasure. “Devon, oh, I love you,” she panted as each stroke seemed to fill her completely.
Devon sucked deeply at that soft, intimate spot at the base of her neck, leaving a mark of love. “And I love you.”
∞
Deshawn couldn’t give up, he just wouldn’t. What he wouldn’t give to have Anika lying back in his arms as he enjoyed the swing on his porch. They would swing together and be serenaded by the night creatures. But alas, he sat alone longing for wishes and hopes, stuck with bitter reality.
He had these feelings for Anika but he wanted to get to know her better. To cherish the good and deal with the bad. Oh, he was wise enough to know that a long-lasting love didn’t come that quick or so strong so soon. But what he felt for Anika was new to him and he was willing to build on it.
Marriage? Very possibly.
But right now the first step was winning Anika back. An idea was already forming. Tomorrow was the annual fair, and a perfect opportunity for a little old fashioned wooing . . . country style.
With a chuckle and a stretch of his arms over his head Deshawn made plans long into the night.
∞
Anika couldn’t sleep. She twisted and turned in the bed. As much as she tried to fight it, little clips of Deshawn’s words floated back to her.
“I love you. Anika.”
“I fought it but you captured apiece of me.”
“You gotta believe I am so in love with you.”
“Give me another chance.”
Damn that handsome, charming, know-the-right- words-to-say devil!
Anika flipped over onto her stomach, burying her scarf-covered head under the pile of down-filled pillows. “He’s a liar, he’s a liar, he’s . . . a . . . liar, he is ... a liar,” she repeated, diligently attempting to remind herself of that fact.
The last time she gave a man in her life a second chance she had just barely lived to regret it. In fact, she still regretted it to this day. And the risk had been much greater than her heart then.
Chapter 13
Changes I've Been Going Through
The next morning Anika got a call from her mother and received disturbing news. Her car had been vandalized. Her bother Malcolm had picked it up from the airport and then dropped it off back at her house just like she asked. When her mother went by to get her mail she discovered that the garage had been broken into and someone had gone to town on the car with a heavy object. All of the windows had been shattered and the tires flattened.
“What?” Anika exclaimed.
“I called Trevor right away. He and his partner took a report and questioned the neighbors,” Tasha said, her voice concerned.
Anika’s older brother Trevor was a police officer for the city of Irvington.
“No one saw or heard anything?”
“No, baby, not a peep.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
“Anika!”
“Sorry, Mama. I just can’t believe it.” Anika sank to the bed. “How’s the house?”
“Well, I waited at your neighbor’s until Trevor got there, but whoever it was didn’t break into the house, they just tore up your car . . . after they tore out the radio.”
“What?” she moaned, more than angered and disturbed by the news.
“Now, listen, Anika, I know you’re upset but there’s no need to run yourself crazy down there—”
“I’m coming home,” she stated firmly.
“For what?” Tasha asked, her tone chastising. “Trevor’s done the police report, your father and brothers cleaned up the garage and had the lock changed, you can call your insurance company from there and one of your brothers will take it to be fixed. I know you’re upset but calm your nerves. You said Chloe needs you to be down there. We have it under control.”
Her mother, who was always pragmatic, succeeded in talking Anika out of coming home, but not even she could ease the anger and shock her daughter felt. Anika ended the call and immediately opened her wallet, getting the number to her insurance company.
There was a brief knock at her door, before it opened slowly.
“Mornin’,” Chloe said, walking into the room with a sleepy look in her eye. “What’s wrong?”
Anika shook her head. “Girl, somebody broke into my garage and vandalized my car.”
“You’re kidding,” Chloe gasped.
“No, I’m not,” Anika said, turning to face her friend. “Life’s a bitch—”
“And then you die,” Chloe finished.
Anika actually laughed.
“I know what you need ... a little breakfast, and then we’ll go to the fair. How ’bout it?”
“You got a deal.”
Chloe wanted to corner her friend again about her feelings for Deshawn. She also wanted to tell Anika about Deshawn’s love for her, but she didn’t. Devon was right, she had to sit back and let them work things out for themselves . . . for now.
After Anika made her call, she and Chloe walked into the kitchen together and prepared themselves a light breakfast of fresh fruit and buttered bagels. They sat at the table and Chloe used the remote to turn the television to a local morning news show.
“I can not wait to get to the fair,” Chloe suggested, taking a bite of a juicy orange.
“I’ve never been to one, so I’m kind of excited too,” Anika answered after swallowing a chunk of pineapple.
“Dev told me they’re only working half a day so they’ll meet us out there.”
“Once again. Police want you to be on the lookout for the man pictured here,” the news reporter on the television was saying.
“Turn it up, Chloe,” Anika said, focusing her attention on the newscaster’s pensive blue eyes.
“He is Aaron Stiles, eighteen years old and wanted in the murder of his ex-girlfriend Meesha Anderson, who was sixteen. Her friends report that he followed Meesha from the local community center, chased her with a gun, which he then used to shoot her viciously in the back as she ran from him. Witnesses at the scene also report that even after she fell, severely wounded by the fatal bullet, he proceeded to hit her several times with the gun. It seems Aaron was upset that Meesha had broken off their violent relationship ...”
Anika closed her eyes against a sharp pang of so many emotions rolled together into one tumultuous ball. Pain. Anger. Regret Empathy. Disgust.
Chloe clutched her womb as if she were protecting an unborn babe.
“If you have any information on his whereabouts please call 555-info,” the newscaster continued.
Anika’s eyes became distant and unfocused, as she stared off into space. A cold shiver raced down her spine. She actually felt as if she were slipping into an abyss. Another teenage girl dead because she chose the wrong man-child as her first love. How easily did love blind a young, impressionable woman?
Chloe eyed her best friend, not at all comfortable with the strained look etched into the lines of her beautiful face. “Anika. Anika?”
But she was lost in thought, almost in a trance, surrounded by a painful past and haunting that she couldn’t outrun in her nightmares or her reality. Her fingers sought and found t
he keloid jagged scar at her temple, hidden by the soft tendrils of her hairline but there nonetheless. Hearing the news story took her back to a different time and place, but somehow the stories were very similar, except that the bullet that Hakeem shot at her hadn’t been fatal. How easily that bullet could have exploded inside her skull the way he wanted it to, instead of grazing her temple.
Dead at sixteen. Gone before her life ever really began. Meesha was not quite as lucky as Anika had been at twenty.
No one knew. Not Chloe. Not her parents. Not her family. No one but the district attorney’s office in Virginia where she’d fought hard to have him prosecuted and won. She’d never told a soul.
Tears filled her eyes and Anika quickly blinked them away. How she had run from him that night. Running from his violence, his anger, and his gun. Running for her life but seeing nothing but her own death at the end of the road. A night that was the culmination of years of surviving in a violent and abusive relationship. She was affected by it to this very day. It was the reason she was so committed to her work at the shelter. She understood the whole vicious cycle of being in an abusive relationship.
Ever since she realized that he’d completed his jail sentence, she’d been having the dreams. How many nights had they plagued her in all these months? How long would it take for her slumber to return to normal? Would she ever be free of her past?
She kept reliving that night until she felt as if he were chasing her again. But there was no way that was possible. In the fifteen years since his sentencing, she had moved several times and there was no way for him to trace out where she lived and worked. After fifteen years in jail he had to have learned his lesson, right? Hopefully he was rehabilitated and building a new life for himself. She wished that the violence that he clung to in his youth was gone as he neared forty.
“Anika,” Chloe said again, shaking her friend’s shoulder. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
Clawing for control, she quickly pushed back the past. How easily she had learned over the years to hide it all. The abuse, the scars, the attempted murder, the nightmares. Her own secret shames and grievances to bear.
Heavenly Match Page 15
