by Linda Verji
“No. Men don’t shave their legs.” His gaze met hers in the mirror just in time to catch the teasing twinkle in her eyes and the smile threatening to break out on her lips. His breath caught in his throat. God! She’s beautiful!
“The ones on Vogue do,” she tried to convince him. “Come on. I bet you’ll look even hotter.”
“No.” He shook his head. She was so close he could feel her breasts pressing against his back and teasing him. His cock rose in response.
“I’m supposed to be the one making the rules, here.” She pouted, drawing his attention to her lush lips and his pulse quickened further. He could still remember her taste, sweet and tempting. Unable to resist the temptation, Eli turned and gathered her into his arms. She fit him just right.
“You can make the rules on something else,” he said.
“Something else like what?” Her eyes dropped to his mouth.
“You’re the teacher…” He lowered his head letting his breath brush over her lips and almost broke when she opened her mouth slightly as if just waiting for him to dip his tongue in. He finished, “…you tell me.”
“Eli.” She exhaled a breath on his name stepping even closer to him. Eli almost groaned when she pressed against his burgeoning erection.
“Yeah?” He lowered one hand, letting it rest on the rise of her ass while his other hand rose to her neck, stroking the silky smooth skin there. Her hands flirted over his shoulders and back as she continued to stare at his lips.
She wanted the kiss. He wanted the kiss. But they were not in the bedroom. Eli was not willing to cross the invisible boundary she set…but if she did it well that was different. He hovered over her, tracing her features with his eyes and mentally begging her to rise up and meet him. She started to – before the door opened.
“I got some other items that I thought might interest you,” a sales assistant walked into the room, instantly shattering the enchantment that’d held them.
Eli couldn’t help the bereft feeling when Chryssa stepped away from him.
***
“Why does everyone think it’s something I did?” Chryssa asked two days later. “It could’ve been your choice.”
“It wasn’t,” Eli said. “I think you almost sent Zain into labor.”
As far as she was concerned dinner at the Fords had been a success and it was just what she needed to distract herself from her mini-feud with Mickey. She and her brother barely talked these days. Just two minutes of inane chatter each night with unsaid apologies on both sides because they both thought they were right before one of them cut off a line. She missed her baby brother.
It was a good thing she’d taken Eli with her because Victor – her supposed date – had come with a date of his own. He’d probably figured out their plan too and come with a shield. Not that Zain or Tasha had complained. As long as everyone was in a relationship, they were happy.
“Your bitch ass didn’t even defend me,” she complained.
“What did you want me to say?” Eli protested. “You’re the one who forced me into the shorts and you’re the one who insisted on a lesson in their bathroom.”
“I was just trying to teach you how to make use of small spaces,” she defended herself. “And you liked it too.”
“I’ll give you that one.”
“Besides I was very, very pleased with you.” This time Eli had been able to hold on until Chryssa had had her orgasm. She could still remember screaming out his name in passion so loudly that it’d brought some of the guests knocking at the bathroom door. Eli had been embarrassed beyond belief and had immediately rushed home. She was glad he seemed to have gotten over it because she wasn’t sure she could stop their lessons now that they’d started.
He asked, “What were you and Kian discussing so intently though?”
“Jealous?” she teased.
“Why would I be?” he returned. His words were enough to send a pinprick of…something…through her. She hastily shoved it away because she and Eli were nothing more than teacher and student.”
“We were just discussing his case with Hanna,” she explained. “Do you mind if we don’t talk about it though? Confidentiality and all. I’m sorry.”
“No, no, don’t worry about it,” he quickly rushed to stem her apologies. “So we’re on for later today?”
For some reason despite the not-so stellar performance he’d given the last time, Chryssa was still itching to drag Eli into her lair and scrub some of that starch from him. “Sure. I can be at Neon City Hotel at around five.”
“That’s the most expensive hotel in the city,” he protested.
“So?”
“So, can’t we find somewhere cheaper?”
She rolled her eyes. “Eli, we both work five figure jobs-”
“Six figure,” he corrected.
“Ooh look at you, Mr. Money Bags,” Chryssa teased. “If you’re earning that much why can’t you spend a little on yourself?”
“I’m saving.”
“For what?” she asked. “You’re like what…40?”
“I am not that old.”
“Yes, dear. If that’s what you say.” She chuckled just as her door opened. Aaron peeked in and waved a large brown envelope. Gesturing for him to come in, she said to Eli, “You have your own house. A car. I bet you’ve already got your 401K padded and enough investments to tide you through World War eight. Live a little. I can split with you of you want.”
“Hell No.”
“Dr. Stone, did you just cuss at a lady,” she fake gasped as Aaron handed her the envelope and then exited her office.
“You’re not a lady.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said. The envelope had the Green, Green & Beckett address on its top right corner. Finally. Hanna must’ve picked her choice in mediator. Winding down her conversation with Eli she asked, “So Neon City Hotel?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Bye, Eli.” She smiled as she ended the call. She tore open the envelope and pulled out the document inside it. Her eyes widened when they saw what was really in the envelope. Was Hanna serious?
Predictably her private phone rang minutes later, Kian’s name blinking rapidly on its screen. He announced the moment she picked up, “I just got served.”
“I just received a copy of the summons too and her letter,” Chryssa said as she stood up. “I’m on my way to your office.”
Harper Inc was only a ten minute walk away from Harrington Shultz. As soon as Chryssa identified herself at the reception, she was ushered into Kian’s office.
“What the hell is she thinking?” Kian paced the length of his office. “If she takes this to court the media will be all over it. This is supposed to be private.”
“She knows that and she’s counting on you to blink first.” Chryssa glanced at the papers in her hand. Hanna had sued Kian for breach of contract but was willing to drop it if he stopped all communications with RJ. Chryssa asked Kian, “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t want this to go public. That’s what I want.”
“I’m sorry Kian.” Chryssa felt like she’d failed him in some way by trusting Hanna to take the common sense route and not go to court. “We can try talking to her again and mayb-”
“Don’t even bother, she won’t listen,” he admonished as he sat back in his seat. “I can’t believe she’s trying to blackmail me.”
“Have you considered doing some blackmail of your own?” she asked. He threw a questioning look towards her and Chryssa explained, “Hanna is Malcolm Simms’ daughter. Simms is a-”
“I know who Simms is,” Kian said. “There’s something you don’t know about me…”
Her mouth fell open when Kian explained his history with the Simms family. From being a corner boy, falling for Hanna, taking the fall for Malcolm Simms, being arrested then deserted by Hanna and finally going into witness protection after testifying against Simms.
“Wow.” She needed a minute to process
all that information. “Wow.”
“If you use her relationship to Simms, then she’ll reveal who I really am, and I can’t let that happen.” Kian let out a heavy breath. “Tasha, the kids…I can’t let that happen.”
Chryssa could very well imagine what would happen. Malcolm Simms was somewhere in the LA penitentiary system and if there was one thing you could count on was that men like him had very long memories and even longer streaks for vengeance. He’d come after Kian and his family.
“I think you need to consider getting protection for you, Tasha and the kids.”
“Why?” Kian asked. “My records are sealed and Hanna loves her career as much as she loves RJ – maybe even more. She knows that if I go down, she’s coming down with me. She won’t use my past as leverage.”
“You haven’t thought this over. I don’t think Hanna did either,” Chryssa explained slowly. “Hanna has already petitioned the court which means someone somewhere out there knows that you and Hanna have some kind of relationship. They’re probably gon share it with some nosy reporter who’ll start digging.
“If I found out about Hanna’s past, so will the reporter. Factor in RJs age and they’ll tie you in to Hanna and Malcolm Simms. Even without your records they’ll start speculating and you can bet that someone whether it be a reporter, Simms or some other criminal buddy of his will figure out who you are. You need to get some protection.”
“I will.” Kian nodded. “But let me see what I can do about keeping the media dark on this.”
CHAPTER 10
“What the hell was that?” Eli gasped as he flopped on his back. The bed moaned at his weight. His chest heaved in quick upward and downward motions as he fought to take in deep breaths. Every inch of his tanned skin was covered by a thin sheen of sweat. He repeated, “What the hell was that?”
“I think it’s called Mounting the Throne,” said an equally exhausted Chryssa. Her voice was muffled by the pillow she had her face stuck in as she lay beside him on the bed. Little drops of perspiration covered her supple chocolate-toned back.
As agreed, Chryssa had turned up for their third lesson at precisely six in the evening at Neon City Hotel. What followed was two hours of acrobatics in the name of lessons in sex positions. The lesson objective – anything but missionary! The woman was so dedicated she’d even come with a porn video, or learning aid as she’d cheekily called it.
John Rod and Lisa Delicious, who were moaning lustily in the still playing TV, deserved an Emmy. He and Chryssa had given up midway through their video and yet it still felt like his every limb had just been put through the grinder then for good measure run over by a truck. All the slides, splitting bamboos and tugs of war had reincarnated Eli’s body from that of a virile man to that of a creaking arthritic.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to walk again.” He pressed a palm to his rapidly thumping heart to make sure it was still beating and not trying to jump out of his chest as he groaned, “Are you sure we didn’t break something?”
“Let me check.” Chryssa mumbled. Her face still on the pillow, she patted him down. If Eli had any sort of energy left, his dick would’ve risen at the subtly sensual caresses but he doubted any part of him could stand right now. Her soft palm skimmed the chords of his neck, lightly stroked the heavy muscles of his chest and belly to finally rest on his thigh. “No. You’re good. Wake me up in about an hour so I can go home.”
In a couple of seconds she was dead to the world. After setting the alarm and switching off the TV, he settled beside her. A few minutes later he joined her in the world between the living and the dead. There were no dreams, just darkness as he let his body drift off to regain its strength.
Eli was used to power naps so hardly thirty minutes later he was up. He opened his eyes to find that she’d cuddled against him in her sleep; her head on his shoulder, her arm on his waist and her leg thrown over his weight.
Carefully untangling himself, he got off the bed to put on his pants. He padded to the separate living room and called room service. Eli hated eating anywhere other than in his home where he could cook for himself, but if his hunger pangs were anything to go by he knew Chryssa would wake up starving. Hardly ten minutes later there was a soft tap on the door. A waiter who looked like he’d just gotten his ID the previous day was standing on the hallway his hands wrapped around the handles of a trolley.
“There’s no butter in the potatoes?” Eli asked as the waiter arranged the dishes on the coffee table.
“No, sir,”
Eli uncovered one of the dishes to confirm for himself. The sweet scent that tickled his sense confirmed that there was no butter in the potatoes. “And the duck is medium rare?”
“Yes, sir!”
“What about the string beans? “ Eli hated being so demanding but he couldn’t help himself. There were just some ways he liked his food, his clothes, his life…he knew his rigidity irritated a lot of people – it’d certainly irritated Renée. Luckily the waiter didn’t seem offended by his questions. Eli rewarded him with a heavy tip that had the young man smiling and thanking him profusely.
Eli carried the two plates to the room. She was lying on her stomach again with the covers down to her waist. Her hair was spread out to one side of the pillow as she took in soft, even and deep breaths. He set the plates on the bedside table then sat on the bed next to her.
“Chryssa,” he called as he stroked the silky smooth skin of her naked back. “Wake up.”
She didn’t open her eyes, but he could tell she had heard him because she turned to face him. Slinging an arm around his thighs, she set her head on his lap. After the rest he’d just had, his dick was quick to respond to the contact.
“Chryssa, wake up,” he repeated trying to tap down on the immediate pleasure flirting through his body at the close contact. Stroking the lengthy straight strands of her hair he said, “C’mon you need to eat something.”
“Is one hour up yet?” Her breath whispered over his fabric covered thighs but she still didn’t open her eyes.
“Not yet.”
“Then leave me alone.” She shifted her head around his lap as if to get comfortable. Eli waved the plate under her nose. Even though she still kept her eyes closed, Chryssa perked up like a hound who’d just sniffed a tasty rabbit.
“Uh uh.” He laughed when she tried to grab the plate with her teeth. “You have to wake up first.”
It took sometime but finally she grumpily woke up. She sat with her back to the headboard, the sheet lying just above her breast as she wolfed down her food. After a while she realized he wasn’t eating, but just staring at her as she ate. Pausing with a scallop on a fork halfway towards her mouth she asked, “What?”
“I’m just surprised.” Eli shrugged. The kind of women he dated preferred salads and sparkling water - at least when they were with him. It was obvious Chryssa saw no need to impress him because she was digging into the meal like it was the last supper. He explained, “I haven’t seen a woman who enjoys her food that much.”
Instantly her hackles were up. She asked tightly, “Is how I eat going to be a problem now?”
“No.” Eli chuckled. Chryssa was so prickly and hot-tempered; she saw criticism in everything he said. It made him want to poke her even more just to see how she’d react. Reserving the poking for later, he explained, “I like it.”
She stared at him with a narrowed gaze before her shoulders relaxed. “Okay.”
Midway through the meal, he noticed that she’d stopped eating. Instead she stared at her plate, her brow furrowed in thought. He felt compelled to asked, “What’s up?”
She looked up at him, her eyes keen as if assessing him. “You’ve been in a relationship before, right?”
He cocked an eyebrow.
“Right,” she answered her own question. “And it didn’t end well.”
“Right.”
“So if being in a relationship hurt so much why would you want to do it again?” She tilted her head to th
e side studying him with curiosity. “I mean there’s a fifty percent probability that your next relationship is just going to hurt as much.”
“I guess because there’s a fifty percent chance that the next one is going to be the next.” He shrugged. “And besides for a good part of my marriage Renée and I had it okay. My parents have been married for forty one years and I know that it can work out.”
“My mother killed herself so she could get away from my father.”
The revelation was as startling and its matter of fact delivery. He didn’t know how to react or what to say. He wanted to shift closer to her and hug her but some part of him told him that that would be the wrong move so he settled for, “I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?” She didn’t look at him as she set the plate on the bedside table then pushed the covers completely away from her body so she could stand up. “Some of us are just meant to be the in the fifty percent that doesn’t work. I have to go home.”
“I thought we were supposed to finish all the videos you brought.” Eli reminded her desperate to keep her here with him and sharing the parts of herself that she kept hidden. “It’s only nine. I can drive you later.”
“No thanks.” She pattered towards the bathroom, throwing over her shoulder as she went, “Besides I don’t want you to break something else old man.”
“Old man?” Eli faked an offended tone. She only laughed closing the door behind her.
***
“…but Your Honor-” Hanna said.
“No,” Judge Murray interrupted throwing her a stun look. “As an officer of the court you should know better. I don’t appreciate you wasting my time when you know very well that this contract is invalid. You can’t force someone to sign a contract relinquishing his paternity rights when his name isn’t even on the birth certificate.”
Hanna had known as soon as they called her bluff that her case was doomed. The contract she’d thought was such a good idea was now a sword that had practically chopped off any neck she had in keeping RJ to herself. Knowing she was going to lose didn’t make the whipping she was getting from Judge Murray any easier to take. She didn’t need to turn to see the gloat on Chryssa Williams’ face. Ignoring it, she tried again, “Your honor-”
