A Taste Of Sin
Page 25
The bedroom she took them to was large and well stocked, with an assortment of whips and restraints on the walls and a mirrored ceiling.
The gold woman squealed with delight. “Oh, goody! This is one of my favorite rooms.”
Dez shrugged out of her jacket then arched an eyebrow at Victoria. She was, after all, running the show.
“Do you like her, Dez?”
She shrugged. “She’s all right. Nice mouth. Gorgeous tits.” Dez coolly assessed their new playmate, mentally apologizing for putting her through what should have been a confrontation between Victoria and her.
Victoria turned to the girl. “Go down on her. You’ll like it. Her pussy is sweet.”
When the woman moved to touch Dez, the tall woman shook her head and gestured toward her lover. “She’s the one who you like. Take her. Unbutton her leather and fuck her.” Her head tilted as she glanced at Victoria. “That’s what you want, right? A little variety?”
The gold woman sank to her knees and started undoing Victoria’s pants. Her fingers were sure and practiced. They freed the soft skin from its leather prison within moments. She kissed Victoria’s belly, her hip bone, and the curling sprigs of hair that crowned her pussy. Victoria stared at Dez as the stranger pulled her pants to her knees and slid her thighs apart, burrowing between her legs for wet treasure. A muscle in Dez’s jaw jumped, but she didn’t say anything. Instead she sat down on the bed and took it all in.
“You’re not very wet, baby,” the woman said. “Let me get you some lube.”
“She doesn’t like lube,” Dez murmured, keeping her eyes on Victoria’s face. “Get her wet with your mouth. Yeah, just like that.”
Victoria flinched as the woman continued to paw her, lapping between her legs to generate a wetness that wouldn’t come.
“Lay on the bed, baby. Your girlfriend can see you much better if you’re nice and spread out.”
“I’m not her girlfriend,” Dez said.
With a low cry Victoria pulled herself away from the stranger. “I’m sorry.” She backed away from her would-be lover, her face twisted with pain. “We shouldn’t do this. I’m not ready.”
The woman stood up and wiped her mouth. “No problem, baby. The night’s young and there’s plenty of pussy around.” She gave Dez’s body a quick once-over and licked her lips. “If you change your mind, come by and see me next month.” The door closed behind her with a soft click.
“I don’t know why I’m trying to be like you,” Victoria said. She zipped up her pants and smoothed her hands over her hips. “Obviously it’s not working.”
“Is that what you’re doing?” Anger burned under her skin, heating her face and hands, but Dez forced her voice to stay even. “I would have never taken you to a place like this without permission. Never.” She lay back against the pillows and crossed her booted ankles. “If you’re angry at me about Sunday, say so. Don’t fucking play games.”
“I’m not playing games with you. Shit!” Victoria winced and plucked at the skin between her eyes. “I thought that things were going so well with us and that after a while that we could . . .” She cursed again. “I don’t know why I expected someone who’s never had to work a day in her life for anything to want to work at a relationship.”
“That’s a goddamn low blow. If you don’t want me as I am, then say so; don’t bring up inconsequential shit.”
“Shit, shit, shit! I’m sorry. Let me start again.” She sighed and stared hard at Dez. “I’ve come to care for you. A lot. But I know that doesn’t change the arrangement that we have.” Victoria blinked then looked away. “It didn’t hit me until I saw you with that girl what this bargain really means. I don’t want to . . . fuck anyone else. All I want is you and since that’s obviously not possible, I’m trying to wean myself off you in the best way that I know how.”
“By pushing new pussy in my face and hoping that I’ll reach out and take it in front of you?” Dez snorted. “That, if you’d forgive me for saying so, is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard.” She stood up and walked to the thickly curtained window. Beyond the gnarled woods behind the hotel, the Caribbean Sea shimmered coolly under the moon. It was a beautiful night. “If you want, we can talk about it. We can agree to see each other exclusively. There’s been no one else for a long time, anyway. You can even tell Derrick about us and get the awful secret out in the open.”
Victoria looked like Dez just suggested that she wipe her face in shit. “Yeah, we do need to talk about this.”
Ah, so I’m your dirty little secret, then. She pursed her lips. “After all the months of being together, all the things we’ve done together, do you still think that there isn’t a future for us?” She recalled their conversation on the drive from Sarasota all those months ago. “Do I fit you? Do we fit together?”
“I don’t know.”
Well, I did ask for honesty. Dez slowly nodded.
The sound of boot heels on the floor punctuated Victoria’s agitated pacing across the room. She flashed Dez a quick look. “You make me nervous. But you make me feel good, too. Most of my friends don’t like you, but my mothers do. When we’re in bed together everything is perfect. But I would be a fool to trust that.” She stopped at the foot of the bed and looked full at Dez. “I don’t want to be hasty with you. You warned me how it would be in the beginning, you told me what you could offer and although I knew you were telling me the truth, I ignored most of that. I wanted you, so I said yes. But I don’t want to be your next heartbreak.”
“What if I was ready to commit?” Dez folded her arms across her chest. “Would you become less uncertain?”
Breath hitched loudly in Victoria’s throat. “Don’t—don’t tease me. I couldn’t take it if you were joking.”
“You really do take me for a lying asshole, don’t you?” Dez shook her head. “I’m going to go and find someone who doesn’t doubt every fucking thing that I say.”
“Wait. I’m sorry.” The press of Victoria’s hand on her belly intercepted Dez’s flight from the room. “I’m sorry. Sit. Please.”
“No.” That touch released the fear she’d had of declaring herself. “All night you’ve been saying that you’re sorry. Stop being sorry and take some responsibility here. I want you. I’ve wanted you for damn near four months now and I don’t think it’s going away. I want us to be together, for real, in front of Derrick and everybody. If you don’t want to do it just say so. Don’t use excuses, don’t talk about uncertainty. Your friends aren’t here. Neither are your parents. You and I are here now. Make a decision.”
“You want me?” Victoria sat down on the bed. “Is that what you said to Ruben when you realized that you loved him?”
Dez squirmed. “You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I do.” She lifted a hand and reached out to Dez. She came and sat down. “That was very well put.” A smile teased the corner of her mouth. “I love you, too, Desiree Nichols, although you’ve made it very hard.”
The trembling started deep inside, vibrating low in a place she never had a reason to access before. Not even with Ruben. By the time it reached her hands, Dez had pushed Victoria into the starched sheets and buried her face in the sweet smelling throat. She nipped at the soft flesh but couldn’t speak. That could wait until the morning.
Chapter 31
“Are you sure that you want to do this?” A“Are you sure that you want to do this?”
“Stop fucking with me.” Dez squeezed Victoria’s thigh under the table and tried not to look nervous. It didn’t work.
Victoria giggled and leaned in close, teasing Dez with her soft scent. “I’m just making sure. It’s not every day that a hot woman propositions and proposes to me.”
“I hope not. Nobody gets to chat up that gorgeous pussy of yours but me.”
Victoria giggled again. “Shhh.”
But nobody was paying any attention to the two women. Chaos reigned happily on Dez’s patio. The once spare, but well-landscaped space had been tran
sformed into a lush eat-and-playground with a long, picnic-style table and matching benches set on top of a pretty stone-paved surface. A trellis veined with scented purple flowers and their vines separated the hot tub and pool from the dining area at one end and the double doors leading to the house at the other. A pair of leaf-shaped fans spun lazily overhead, adding just the right amount of tropical decadence to the newly designed back-yard.
Everyone talked at once, sipping their drinks, and eating from the huge banquet of food laid out along the table’s center. It was almost too much—lobsters still in their hot, blushing shells piled high on a platter, some already missing a claw or two; summer fruits marinating in their own juices and shimmering red and orange and pink in a bowl; coconut and ginger-flavored rice; moist-looking Thai-style basil rolls; and even a large oven-roasted chicken. A bright arrangement of stir-fried vegetables and tofu sat in its platter, adding even more color to the eclectic mixture of edibles. Eden, Claudia’s friend, demurely ate one of the four basil rolls on her plate, her slender fingers raised to her lips to shield their movement as she listened intently to something Rémi was saying.
A year ago, Dez didn’t think that something like this would be possible—her friends, Claudia, Derrick, Victoria’s family and her friends, all gathered around the same table enjoying one another. Happiness settled like a warm fist inside her, curling gently around her vulnerable places and keeping them safe. At her right, Claudia scooped more tofu on her plate, laughing and almost unable to wield her spoon as Sage delivered the dirty punchline to her joke.
At the far end of the table, Derrick sat between Abena and Kavi, shamelessly lapping up the attention the two women lavished on him. Even Mick showed up to make nice along with everyone else. She and Nuria exchanged small talk as they swapped the bowl of rice and the smaller one filled with melted butter between them.
“So, when are you going to tell us why we’re all here?” Rémi asked.
Trust her friend to get to the point before everyone else. Dez caressed Victoria’s hand laying on the table next to hers and thought about what to say.
“Could it be because of that luscious thing by your side? Is she finally going to make an honest woman out of you?”
No one was surprised by the question, but still there was a reasonable amount of silence as one or two people waited for the answer.
“I have asked,” Victoria said into the relative quiet, “and she did say yes, so . . .” She held up Dez’s hand. The wide platinum band with its trinity of diamonds on her promise finger sparkled impressively in the light.
“Wow! How did I miss that?” Kavi leaned in closer to get a better view of the ring. She wasn’t the only one.
Dez felt her face warm as she self-consciously lowered her hand. Ever merciless, Victoria giggled.
Delia and Veronique watched all the action from their place at their daughter’s side. They had been privy to most of the couple’s soft-voiced conversation and knew how nervous Dez was. Just last month, Victoria had called her mothers in Canada and asked them to come down to Miami for a special dinner. They weren’t told what the dinner was for, but when Victoria and Dez picked them up from the airport with both their eyes filled with love for the other, it was obvious what the big announcement was going to be.
“Ah well,” Rémi said after all the excitement about the ring had died down. “I guess I’ll have to go back to handling all those hot Miami babes myself.”
Dez smiled, barely hiding her relief at the topic shift. “Something tells me that you’re more than up for the job.”
The two friends had talked the night before at a sort of “bachelors’ last night out.” Rémi had been in a pensive mood. “I like the girl,” she said. “She’s hot and she’s been good for you. But I’m still going to miss you and me.” Of course she meant that she’d miss their fuck runs. There was no question of Dez’s faithfulness to Victoria. On a sober night a million years ago they’d talked about finding and keeping permanent partners. In their deepest of hearts, they were both monogamous women. It was just that, until now, neither of The Good Time Twins had ever found the right One to fit into the slot.
“Thanks, Rémi,” Dez had murmured over their nearly empty glasses of twenty-year-old scotch. “If things work out with Victoria I’d want you to stand up with me. Is that all right?”
“You don’t even have to ask. I’ll be honored to be your best man. Or whatever they call it.” Then they shook hands.
The two women looked at each other across the table now and smiled.
“Congratulations,” Derrick said, breaking up their love-fest. He glanced first at Victoria then at Dez. “You’ve found a really good woman. The best.” He raised his glass of wine. “To quote a classic, ‘You break her heart and I’ll break your legs.’ ”
“Come on, Derrick,” Victoria muttered, giving her best friend a cutting glance even though his tone had been playful.
“I’ll drink to that,” Veronique said in her purring French-Canadian accent. “Although I’m sure there will be no need for that. So far Desiree seems absolutely like the kind of love Delia and I always wanted for our daughter.”
At Dez’s side, Victoria blushed and smiled. She squeezed Veronique’s hand. “Thank you, mamá. I think.”
“Another toast, then.” Sage rose gracefully to her feet despite the many drinks she’d already had. “To the happy couple. May you live long and prosper”—after the laughter and groans at the Star Trek reference died away, she raised her glass of scotch and the corners of her mouth—“together.”
Dez thanked her mischievous friend with an accurately tossed napkin. Sage laughed and brushed off her shirt front. A few months ago when she found out that Victoria was the woman Dez had been seeing on the sly, she almost pissed herself laughing. “Your brother’s hot-ass friend, yeah?” She laughed again. “Nice.”
From her seat in her girlfriend’s lap, Phil had smiled devilishly at Dez. “You never take the easy route, do you?”
Nuria was far less congratulatory, but seemed determined to play nice, perhaps in hopes of using Victoria to lure Derrick into bed. At the far end of the table, she now chatted easily with her neighbors, alternately charming and seductive in her eye-catching bustier-style blouse and tight jeans.
Dez looked away from her friend as Victoria stood up from the table and walked toward the kitchen. She waited a few seconds before following.
“I knew you’d come in here,” Victoria said, turning from the cupboards with a teasing smile.
“How can I resist? I haven’t had you to myself all night.”
“But you will later.”
“True enough, but you know me and instant gratification.” She dropped tiny kisses on the corners of Victoria’s mouth. Her lover’s hands settled on her hips, pulling her closer.
“I can’t believe it’s been almost a year,” Victoria said.
“And I still can’t get enough of you.”
“That I can believe. You have the stamina of a humming-bird on speed.” She squeezed Dez’s butt. “And I love it.”
“Good.”
“Don’t forget that you two have company,” Rémi called out from the patio. “Let’s not have a repeat of the birthday party incident.” A laughing voice, Delia’s, begged for a telling of that story.
Victoria blushed and tried to jump back from her lover. But Dez held her close with a low chuckle. “It wasn’t anything they hadn’t seen or done before,” she murmured, remembering the crème fraîche tasting that had quickly escalated into heated foreplay on the kitchen counter.
“Don’t be so sure.” Victoria buried her hot face in Dez’s neck. Only after her face cooled did she look up. “Let’s get back to the table.”
“What did you come in here for, anyway?” Dez asked.
A teasing smile fluttered across her mouth. “I already got it.”
“You know me that well, huh?”
“Not yet, but I plan on making it part of my life’s work.”
“Don’t look so disappointed, darling. You’ll have time enough for that later.” She held out her hand. “Come, Rémi has a new dessert she wants us all to try.”
“Why didn’t you say so in the first place? I would have left that broad in the kitchen ages ago.” She let the door swing closed behind her and walked into the welcoming embrace of her family’s laughter.