And the night went on like that with bachelor after bachelor being plucked up by one of the women. Even a pudgy dude with a receding hairline got scooped up.
“Okay, ladies, here’s our last bachelor for the night,” Eloise said, turning to wave Kael closer.
The murmurs of the women grew a little louder as it had with the intro of each new bachelor.
Junie nudged her. “Ain’t that—”
Lisha rolled her eyes. “Yes,” she stressed.
“I didn’t know he was—”
“Me either.”
“This is Kael Strong. He’s six-foot-five, ladies, with brown eyes and silver hair—and remember, ladies, where there is smoke there is plenty of fire. This twenty-six-year-old cattle rancher is one cowboy who knows how to ride,” Eloise said, actually raising her hand to pretend she was working a lasso as she circled her hips.
Lisha thought Eloise had partaken of the wine a little much, but she enjoyed it as Kael smiled uncomfortably. His eyes were shifting about the room and she could tell he was looking for her. Looking over at Bea, she saw the woman sitting back comfortably with her eyes locked on him.
“Kael’s idea of a romantic date is dinner on a yacht under the stars.”
The ladies all swooned, but Lisha knew from his fleeting confused expression that Kael did not offer up that info. Some more of his sister’s bull.
“Let’s open up the bids,” Eloise said, pressing a hand to Kael’s back to urge him to walk the circle.
“Fifty dollars,” Bea said, holding her card up.
“You are serious, huh?” Eloise said with a high-pitched laugh.
“Well, damn,” Junie said.
Kael did move around the circle then looked at the faces in the crowd until his eyes lit on her. “Bid,” he mouthed, his face urgent.
Lisha looked away from him and took another sip of her wine.
“Do we have fifty-five dollars for this sexy cowboy in blue?” Eloise asked.
“Fifty-five here.”
Lisha’s eyes darted across the room from her left.
Kael continued around the circle, but his eyes were on her.
“Sixty,” Bea said.
Lisha eyed the woman, looking smug in her strapless gold dress as she slid hands with his equally smug-looking sister.
Kael shook his head.
“Sixty-five,” another woman in the crowd called out.
Kelli opened her pocketbook and counted the cash before whispering to Bea.
“Eighty,” Bea countered.
Kael walked around the circle again and squinted his eyes at Lisha like he wished he could spank her like a child. She raised her glass to him in a toast as he continued back to his spot by Eloise.
“If you wasn’t my cousin and I wasn’t worried about your fist on my nose . . .” Junie said into her glass of wine as she watched Kael closely over the rim. “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”
Lisha ignored her and opened her wallet to count Kael’s cash and her own. The fact that his sister and Bea were being so slick and sure about the shit spurned her on. Well, that and the fact that Lisha didn’t want the woman to win. Period.
She snatched up Junie’s card and waved it. “Ninety,” she said, leaning back in her chair to eye both Bea and Kelli who pierced her with their eyes.
Kael looked relieved.
“A hundred,” Bea countered, rising to her feet to press a hand to her hip as she eyed Lisha.
“Give me your cash,” Lisha told Junie.
“What? Huh?”
“Give me your cash,” she repeated, never taking her eyes off Bea.
“I want my money back,” Junie said, reluctantly sliding a fifty-dollar bill across the table to her cousin.
Lisha stood up as well. “Two hundred,” she said, after totaling Junie’s money to the cash she had on hand.
The women looked on with oohs and aahs.
Eloise cried out like she saw Jesus. “Two hundred dollars! Can we get two hundred and ten?” she asked, turning to look at Bea.
Everyone including Lisha looked at Bea. She dropped back down in her seat.
“Sold for two hundred dollars to the lucky lady in the black,” Eloise said.
All of the ladies except Bea and Kelli applauded as Kael made his way over to Lisha. “You owe me and Junie fifty dollars,” she told him just before he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her body close to his.
“And I owe you this,” he whispered against her lips before he kissed her.
Lisha brought her hands up to his shoulders as Kael covered her mouth with his own, deepening the kiss with a deep moan of hunger. She trembled and entwined her arms behind his head as the women clapped.
“Well, looks like their date is going straight to the end,” Eloise said into the mic.
Kael eyed Lisha as she unlocked the door to her apartment. She turned and held the doorknob as she looked up at him. “Thank you for the ride home,” she said.
“Thank you again for saving me during that auction,” he said, pushing his hands into his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his feet.
“I shouldn’t have,” she said, reaching to tug at his shirt.
“You didn’t want anyone else to win me,” Kael said with confidence.
“I don’t have a say. Do I?” she asked in a soft voice.
Kael smiled and licked his lips as he looked away from her and then back at her again. “You have a say,” he told her, loving the brightness of her eyes.
“What does that mean, Kael?” she asked.
He reached up to stroke her cheek with his finger. “I need someone who will never betray me. Someone who believes that she can really love me hard . . . . the way I deserve and the same way I can love her.”
Her eyes softened and she smiled in pure happiness, and that look on her face, that look that shone in her eyes, made him happy. And that’s what he wanted. To make Lisha happy.
Kael stepped close to her and reached behind her to shut the door before he picked her body up against the door and then stepped forward to press his lips and his body against hers. And the softness of her lips made him hard in a rush as he enjoyed the feel of her hands wrapped around his waist to splay against his back.
Her fingers gripped the material and she moaned as he felt her body melt against him. “Kael,” she sighed against his mouth. “Kael, Kael, Kael.”
He loved the sound of his name from her lips. “Yes, baby,” he answered her.
Kael wrapped one arm around her securely as he reached and opened the door to the apartment, stepping inside and yanking the keys from the lock to fling away before closing the door with a kick of his foot.
Lisha dropped her purse from under her arms as he carried her to the couch and pressed her body under him.
Kael wanted her. He wanted to kiss her, taste her, stroke her, come in her . . . and then do it all over again. He could hardly think straight as he reached behind her to undo the tie of her halter. He shifted down to press kisses along her neck and then from one shoulder to the other before moving to that intimate space between her breasts.
“Ah,” Lisha cried out, arching her back.
He inhaled the scent of her perfume as he pressed his face against the soft swell on the side of one of her breasts. “Lisha,” he said, the hardness of his dick making him ache. “Damn, Lisha.”
Kael shifted to his side on the sofa, loving the look on her face as he eased his hand down to the hem of her dress to massage her soft thighs. He bent his head to use his teeth to nudge the top of her dress down, exposing her full breasts and the chocolate tips of her breasts to his eyes. “Shit,” he swore, dipping his head to lick at one taut nipple.
Lisha cried out again.
He sucked it deeply.
She gasped for air.
He fluttered his tongue against it.
She raised one arm above her head to clutch wildly at the arm of the sofa.
He sucked the brown nipple with his lips and teased the nipple with
his tongue.
“Shit,” she swore fiercely, bringing a hand up to press his head to her breast.
He watched her closely as he smoothed his hand against the lacy trim of her panties as he licked away like a cat to milk at her breasts. He pulled the panties to the side and stroked his index finger against the split. His mouth formed a circle at the wetness and the heat. “Damn,” he said in awe before easing a finger inside her.
“Wait, Kael,” she said, sounding drugged as she pressed her thighs close, trapping his hand.
He still circled his finger around the entry of her core as he kissed her breasts wildly.
Lisha winced in pleasure even as she fought to keep her legs pressed. “Baby, wait, we can’t. Not yet. I—”
“You not ready?” he asked, his voice thick and his eyes half-closed as he looked up at her.
She shook her head. “I have to tell you—”
Kael allowed himself one last feel of her wet tightness before freeing his hand from her thighs and smelling her juices on his finger.
Lisha looked amazed when he sucked his finger into his mouth and moaned deeply at the taste of her.
“You’ve never had anybody taste you before?” he asked, licking his lips.
She shook her head.
“Anyone ever ate you?” he asked, sitting up higher to look down at her.
Her cheeks flushed and she turned her head to tuck into his armpit as she shook her head.
Lisha’s sudden shyness surprised him, but he smiled as he reached for her chin and turned her face so that she looked up at him. He kissed her mouth. “So have you ever tasted a man like that before?” he asked as gently as he could.
Her eyes bugged out. “Noo,” she said with emphasis.
He liked that. He liked that a lot. “Then I’ll have to teach you,” he said low in his throat. “Do you want me to teach you one day?”
Lisha closed her eyes as she nodded. “One day,” she said, opening one eye to look up at him.
He chuckled. “No worries. Today I have something else to teach you about,” he said, carefully rising off the couch.
Lisha’s exposed breasts jiggled as he turned her body on the couch, standing between her legs before he knelt. “Kael,” she said.
“Sssh.” He massaged her inner thighs before rubbing his hands up her hips to gently ease her panties down.
“Kael,” she said, her hand shooting out to press to his chest.
“I’m just gonna eat it,” he said simply.
“And nothing else?” she said after a very long pause.
“Nothing else you don’t want,” he said, using his hands to lift her hips and ease the panties down her buttocks, thighs, knees and then ankles to fling over his shoulder.
His eyes devoured the sight of the soft and tight V of curls covering her before he pushed her legs up and spread them, exposing her fleshy and moist core to him. Using his finger, he outlined her lips and her inner folds, loving the way the muscles of her core flexed in response to him.
Bending down, he used his fingers to press the flesh up and expose her swollen clit. With pursed lips he sucked at it gently before circling it with the tip of his tongue.
Lisha’s hips jerked at the first feel of his mouth on her intimacy.
He sucked harder in a slow pulsing move, moving his hand to massage her thick lips. Her legs wiggled on each side of his head and her cries of pleasure let him know he was taking care of the right spot. And well.
“Kael,” she cried out.
He felt her clit warm and swell in his mouth. She’s about to cum.
His dicked throbbed until his thighs felt weak and he sucked and licked her core and clit until her body quivered and he had to lock his arms around her hips to trap her in place as her cum filled his mouth and she fought to back away from the pleasure.
Kael was relentless. He continuously sucked and wildly licked at her clit, driven by the taste of her, the feel of her and the sound of her hoarsely crying out.
“I’m comming,” she gasped, her eyes rolled back in her head. “I’m commmminnnnnng.”
He didn’t stop until the constant quivering of her body slowed down to sporadic jerks before she went slack. Rising up, he looked down at her with his mouth glistening from her juices. Needing to be with her, he unzipped and lowered his pants down around his hips, freeing his thick and long dick.
His pre-cum had the tip wet and slick as he used it to lube his dick before pressing the thick tip to her pussy.
Lisha’s eyes opened at the first feel of him probing her wetness. “No, Kael. I’m a virgin,” she gasped, her eyes wild for another reason.
“What?” he asked. His heart stopped in his chest as he posed with dick in hand ready to bury deep inside her walls.
Lisha sat up, lowered her feet to the floor as she pressed her face against his neck. “I’m a virgin,” she moaned against his flesh.
Shit, shit, shit.
Kael closed his eyes and let his head fall back as he still held onto to his throbbing hard dick.
“I’m sorry.”
At least that’s what he thought she mumbled against his neck.
“Just not a good time to tell me, baby, that’s all,” he said, raising his free hand to push his fingers through her hair to rub her scalp.
Kael was proud of his control. Later, when all the blood hadn’t left his brain and rushed to his dick, they could discuss it in detail.
“Just touch it,” he said thickly, taking her hands and pressing it around his hardness.
“You ever stroked a dick ’til it came?” he asked, pressing kisses to the side of her face.
Lisha shook her head no as she sat back a bit and looked down at the full and curving length of him in her hand. She squeezed it tight. “Like this?” she asked, glancing up at him.
Kael brought his hands up to cover hers. “Loosen it up a little,” he said. “Not so tight. And work right under the tip, like this.”
“Like this?” she asked, flexing her wrist back and forth the way he’d shown her.
“Yes,” he said through clenched teeth, rolling his hips to send his dick through the circle she made with her fingers.
“Wet it,” he said in a husky tone as his heart thundered like it outraced Sampson and won.
Lisha bent over and circled her tongue around the hot tip.
Kael gasped and moaned as his buttocks clenched with the forward jut of his hips at the feel of her tongue. He froze as his nut surged forward. He didn’t want to fill her mouth with it. Not yet. Not tonight. “I meant wet your hand,” he said, tilting his head to the side to watch as she gently sucked the tip with her moist lips. “But I ain’t complaining.”
Lisha said something, but his dick muffled the words.
He bit his bottom lip and enjoyed the pleasure, fighting not to urge her to take more of his inches into her mouth. Feeling his nut surging again, he freed himself from her lips as he cried out hoarsely with each jolt of his release against her hand until he was weak and spent.
“Love in its essence is spiritual fire.”
—Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Interlude
Present Day
Kael and Lisha stared at each other mischievously, stroking each other’s hand as they shared a private soft chuckle at their heated memory of the night after that auction. Marvin Sease sang a soulful “Merry Christmas.”
“I think I fell in love that night,” Kael said to her with a roguish wink.
“Oh, Kael,” Lisha sighed, stroking his wrist with her thumb as she leaned over to press a heated kiss to his lips.
He smacked his lips. “Just as good as it was forty years ago,” he assured her.
“Ain’t it?” she agreed.
They were lost in each other and the past that had built the strong foundation for their marriage and their family.
“Hello? Excuse us. Room full of family here.”
Lisha and Kael looked away from each other and saw every one of the family membe
rs staring at them and patiently waiting for more of the story.
“Wait a minute. So what happened after the auction?” Meena asked, looking quizzically at her identical twin, Neema, before glancing back at her step-grandparents.
“Y’all just got kinda quiet and got googly-eyed after you told us how you won the auction,” Neema added. “Then what happened?”
“Nothing,” Kael and Lisha said in unison, keeping that part of the story for them.
“Your mama and daddy nasty,” Zaria teased in Kaleb’s ear where they sat on the love seat beneath the wall of framed family photos. “You’d think they still do it.”
Her husband flexed his chiseled chest in the red fleece jacket he wore over a crisp white long-sleeve tee as he looked at her. “I know I will be tearing that ass up when I’m sixty,” he said, glancing down at her bottom in the dark denim jeggings she wore with thigh-high boots.
Zaria made a face. “But I’ll be in my seventies,” she said.
“And looking like you’re in your fifties,” he said, moving his hand around her to tap the side of her ass.
“Right!” she agreed, her gold hoop earrings dangling.
Zaria was in her early forties and her husband in his late twenties but even with more than a fifteen-year age difference, they had worked past their major differences to be together. Kaleb had been the one to help her settle down and leave the partying alone, instead of the other way around. Her college-aged twin daughters had struggled with the relationship, but in the end it was their interference that had brought Kaleb and Zaria back together. Now they were a big family with the addition of their son, Kasi Dean, who was two years old.
After her marriage of twenty years shattering, Zaria had thought she may never find love again, but then came Kaleb and he taught her more about loving and being loved than she could ever dream.
They were good but . . .
Shaking away the doubts that had been plaguing her for the last week, Zaria looked over at her daughters, both beautiful and smart and so supportive of their once-wild mother. But what would they have to say when she gave them all the news?
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