by S. K. Lessly
“I really fucking hate you!” she mumbled.
I chuckled, finally opening my eyes, but I kept them looking out onto the pool in front of me. “Why do you hate me? What did I do?”
I received a soft moan for my answer, and I almost lost my shit.
Focus Cooper. You can do this. Just keep your eyes forward, and don’t look at… Shit, too late!
I’d been on my best behavior all gotdamn night. I’d kept my hands to myself and I’d kept my eyes strictly on hers or straight ahead. I knew what would happen if I didn’t. I had held strong, but now the weakness for this woman was beginning to overtake me. I felt my control disintegrating as my damn traitorous eyes drifted uncontrollably to the delicate, suckable toes with orange-painted toenails on the sexiest woman I believed had ever been created. But they didn’t stop there. Oh no! My eyes glided unabashed along a pair of soft and shapely legs. They stopped for just a second to admire curves that were very sultry and very sexy before sliding to a face that managed to always stop my heart. She had her eyes closed at the moment so I took this rare opportunity to eye fuck her because shit, that was all I was able to do.
“You’re the reason why I’m like this,” she mumbled softly.
“So it’s my fault you’re incapable of holding your liquor?” I asked.
She was curled up facing me, her arms bent, her hands tucked underneath her cheek. Her legs were bent slightly at the knees; one lying on the other. Her long, black curly hair, which was once tamed at the crown of her head, now rested wildly along her shoulders and back.
“Oh, I can hold my liquor just fine. It’s just…” she trailed off.
I laughed. “Yeah, you hold your liquor just fine.”
She didn’t respond with words, but she did manage to flip me off.
I smirked, shaking my head before I threw my legs over the side of the lounge chair and pushed myself up. I headed toward the house, opened the sliding glass door, and walked into the kitchen. I meandered over to her fridge, grabbed two bottles of cold water from inside, and then made my way back out onto the patio, all the while taking deep breaths to calm down.
Misty still had her eyes closed as I approached her, so I unscrewed the cap of one of the water bottles and passed it to her. “Drink this, cry baby.”
She blindly reached up to grab the water, brought the bottle to her lips, and took a sip and then another. “Thanks.”
I chuckled again.
“This is still your fault, but you’re making up for it so…” she said to me as I sat back down in my chair.
I brought my own bottle to my lips and took a huge gulp but, for different reasons. “Yeah, yeah drink up, princess,” I joked.
She saluted me with her middle finger, turned to lay on her back, and moaned again. She then stretched while I sat there watching, motionless; taking in every arch and movement her body made.
Oh, the things I could do to her body. I shook my head and brought the water bottle I held tight in my grip to my now dry mouth. A slight chill moved through me despite the heat that was now rising within. I desperately tried to find just a smidgen of willpower to resist her.
I wanted to blame the impure thoughts that were going through my mind and the lack of self-control on the abundance of alcohol I had just consumed. However, I knew that wasn’t the truth. The truth was that recently my mind seemed to always have impure thoughts when it came to Misty. I couldn’t help myself really. The woman was fucking stunning as hell and blue-balls sexy.
Since the first day we met, I was intrigued by her. If things would have gone my way, no doubt, I would’ve satisfied my desires for her a long time ago. But the timing wasn’t right. It left me pining after a woman I couldn’t have. A missed opportunity that left me wanting for a very long time. Instead of torturing myself over it, I channeled my needs to available prospects.
Misty became a friend of the family and a little sister. Thinking of her that way worked for a while. Time eventually passed, and I moved on with my life just as she did. Because of the direction both of our lives took, I thought I was over my dark desires for her sexy chocolate ass. I found out a while ago that those desires weren’t gone. They were just dormant and now they had awakened with a vengeance. Now whenever I tried to think of Misty as a sister or family friend, my subconscious would laugh at me, and the true compulsion of my needs would take over.
At times, I found myself aching for just the sight or the scent of her. The look and feel of her would ruin me if I didn’t get myself in check. Oh, but, I knew my demise would be worth it. She was definitely worth it…my guilty pleasure.
Misty’s skin tone reminded me of a Hershey’s Kiss when it melted; smooth, rich in color, and very creamy. She had eyes that slanted slightly with high cheekbones that definitely displayed her island heritage. Her lips were full and very fuckable. I’d had erotic, nut-worthy dreams about her lips and how they would feel all over my body as she kissed me or how they would feel devouring me.
And those slanted penetrating eyes… Damn! They were this off-the-wall shade of piercing gray with a bluish hue to them that made her features hypnotizing and very alluring. Not many people knew that about her; the color of her eyes. Misty wore brown-colored contact lenses to make sure she didn’t stand out. Occupational hazard that, for her, made it a necessity to shield that truth from the world.
I hadn’t seen many brown or dark skin black women with her color eyes. Maybe green or grey, but not blue. If you coupled that rarity with her beauty, she stood out like a flawless diamond among a sea of cubic zirconias. Not very ideal for someone whose job was to blend into her surroundings and become invisible.
Misty didn’t mind hiding behind her contacts. She said that she actually preferred wearing them. At first I wondered why until I had actually seen her without the offensive objects.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
It wasn’t the color of her eyes that made me falter that day. I mean, yes, it was the contrast between her complexion and her eyes that captivated me, but it was so much more. It was the expressive way her eyes bore into me. They were penetrating, expectant, full of so much power, and very intense. For a woman like Misty, that made her very dangerous. It also made her vulnerable in my eyes, so open and exposed that when I looked into them, I could see straight to her soul.
Misty never allowed herself to show weakness or vulnerability. She was a warrior. I knew that side of her. I knew how strong and tough she was. But when I was blessed with the opportunity to see the softer side, the side she kept hidden from the world, that was it. In that breath of a second I was hooked.
A groan tripped over the knot in my throat and fell from my hungry lips as my eyes fell back along her curves. I closed them quickly and I cleared the image of how good her body would look under mine before my imagination became my reality. Yeah, maybe coming here alone wasn’t such a good idea. If my family, mainly my brothers, knew what I was contemplating, they would probably kill me.
To add insult to injury, I had brought alcohol into the mix, which was the worst fucking idea. But I was a big boy. I believed, no, I knew I could handle being in the presence of this woman, have a few drinks, and keep my erotic thoughts in check. Consequently, I had underestimated the effect this woman truly had on me.
When I first rang her doorbell tonight, and she didn’t answer, I should have taken that as a sign to take my ass home. But I didn’t. I knew she wasn’t all right after her run-in with Simon. It was in her eyes and her body language. I knew something was off with her. Something had happened between her and Simon that caused the look of pure fear in her eyes, and I wanted to know what it was.
I believed that I knew her better than anyone else. Fear was foreign to her. It wasn’t something she knew existed. So when I noticed she was wearing fear like a cloak, it just confirmed that something was wrong. After making the executive decision that she shouldn’t be alone tonight, I decided to break into her house. I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t really give a
shit. And I didn’t care if she had company or not. Okay, actually, I did care, so I told Junior to hack into her security system and check the feeds to make sure she was alone before I broke into her house. It only took a few minutes for Junior to tell me that the coast was clear. She had entered her house alone and was currently in the pool swimming.
See, I’m not that crazy or insensitive.
Now if Junior would’ve told me she had company, things would have definitely gone to shit with me committing first degree murder, especially if she had been with one of those clowns she always brought around the family.
I didn’t have the right to be pissed or have any sorts of emotions about Misty having company. She was single, beautiful and well within her right. No matter how hard I tried, however, the thought of her with someone else burned the hell out of me.
I yelled through the phone for Junior to give me what I needed to break into her house. He stuttered slightly, mentioning how Misty was going to skin him alive before giving me what I’d asked for. Again, I didn’t give a shit about anything but getting what I wanted.
Once I made it inside, I quickly disarmed her security system. I started to search her house, gun out, praying that Junior was mistaken and I’d find someone, anyone who didn’t belong, but sadly, I didn’t. Even though the house was clear, I didn’t calm down until my eyes fell on her body smoothly slicing through the surface of her pool. I went back through the house, made sure all of the windows were locked and the door double bolted before I made my way to the patio to wait for her swim to end.
This being a bad idea quickly ran through my mind for the first time then, but it didn’t take hold. There was no turning back anyway. I was beyond the point of no return, especially when I watched her perfect body slowly emerge from the pool. She wore a hot pink two-piece bathing suit that barely covered a set of amazing tits. And if I was to guess the next-to-nothing matching bottoms no doubt made her heart-shaped ass look mouth-wateringly good. I’d seen Misty in a bathing suit before multiple times. For some reason tonight, I not only noticed her, I noticed every single detail about her.
Okay, forget the bullshit I said earlier about the atmosphere and that serenity crap.
The atmosphere we were in, fuck that, it was starting to get to me. It was the subtle way the candles were bouncing shadows all around her, illuminating her, softening her, it hypnotized me.
The music that was playing was the devil. That shit was doing nothing, but setting the stage for the impure thoughts that were running through my mind.
Again, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I was desperately trying to, but the desire to have her was overshadowing reason and the threat of bodily harm from my mother.
The way she was smiling at me earlier didn’t help either. It wasn’t a seductive smile at all. She wasn’t insinuating anything or being flirtatious, which was a shocker in itself. She was a flirt by nature.
But she wasn’t tonight. Tonight, she was different. Her smile was different. It was more open and honest. She seemed very relaxed. The way her sensual lips spread across her face when she smiled, and how her cheeks rose into her expressive eyes made me practically drool.
And her laugh… That was different too. The melodious sound of it was rich. It was contagious.
Think about it. She had me confessing shit and telling family secrets just so I could hear her laugh and I could see her face light up. What did that tell you?
I shouldn’t want this woman as much as I did. The need for her shouldn’t have been as strong as it was. Oh, but it was…
Just then, I started thinking about all the reasons why I shouldn’t indulge in my guilty pleasures in an effort to gain some perspective, but I couldn’t think of one solid reason. Not one. That was crazy because for years I had rationalized why I needed to stay clear away from Grace Michelle King, better known as Misty, and it made sense. Back then, I was okay with my thought process. Now, I couldn’t rationalize shit. I wanted her, and the type of man that I was, I always got what I wanted one way or another. I simply always found a way.
I heard a soft, barely perceptible, groan from my right that erupted through my thoughts. I collected myself and turned to face the center of my desires to find her looking right at me. Resolve finally flooded my body as clarity overcame ambiguity.
Yeah, Shane Cooper, the time to stake your claim is now. You will no longer allow anything or anyone to stand in your way of getting what you want. That will not happen again. No more obstacles, no more waiting, and no more taking other people’s feeling into consideration. The only person that concerns you now is her.
I, of course, agreed with my inner self. It was time…time to set the selfish asshole free. The time had come for my obsession for this woman to be revealed, and it was fucking time that I made this woman mine. This wasn’t going to be easy. She would definitely make me work for it. The great thing about that was the reward would be well worth it.
Determination now etched in my eyes as I turned my body to face her. I kicked my legs over the side of the chair, my feet firmly planted on the ground. I quickly thought how I wanted to tell her just how she was making me lose my mind, but before I could, I felt and heard a vibration coming from my hip.
Thinking that it was Junior or family calling me this late at night, I pulled my phone from my clip and looked at the display.
Shit, obstacles…
“What time is it?” I heard Misty ask me through the anger that was starting to gain strength inside of me.
“It’s a little after two,” I replied absently as I studied my screen.
What the fuck does Casey want?
She knew better not to call me, and yet here she was calling at two in the morning.
When my phone stopped ringing, I noticed I had seven missed calls and two text messages. Damn, I must have been out of it. I had no idea my phone was even going off. I checked the text messages first and found I had one text from Malcolm and one from Josh. They both asked if I had heard from Misty. They both had texted and called her, but she hadn’t responded to either of them. I didn’t tell them I was coming to see her, so they had no clue that I was here.
“Wow! It’s that late?” Her voice was loud enough for me to get the hint that she wanted my attention.
I gave her a nod as I mulled over my response to my brothers. Deciding I wasn’t about to tell them shit other than she was fine and I was here, I fired off a rapid reply. Then I grinned and waited.
Josh didn’t reply back, and I hadn’t expected him to. But I got a quick reply from Malcolm. He didn’t reply with words, he responded with three question marks.
Yeah, you think about that.
I chuckled lightly and checked my missed calls. The triumphant smile on my face a minute ago was replaced with a deep scowl. All seven missed calls were from Casey. Seven calls.
Are you kidding me?
I was about to send her a text when my phone started going off again. It was Casey.
What in the fuck?
I heard Misty sigh deeply and I finally looked up at her. “You better answer that and check in with Malibu Barbie. I wouldn’t want to have to beat the shit out of her if she comes here looking for you.”
I grunted and replied, before answering my phone, “She wouldn’t come looking for me.” Then I swiped the answer icon on my screen, “What is it?” I snapped, letting all of the annoyance and impatience I felt come through.
Yeah, it was like that. I ignored Misty’s shocked face, rested my back against the lounge chair, and looked out over the pool. Silence greeted my coldness, and I waited. Casey hadn’t hung up the phone. She was trying to wait out my temper. This was her tactic when dealing with me after she had pissed me off. It didn’t work of course because my temper was, well. It wasn’t very pleasant. But while we were dating, I did scale it back for her. However, now she didn’t get that luxury.
I sighed. “Casey, I don’t have time for this shit. Either tell me what you want or—”
�
��Sorry, okay? I dropped the phone and I-I didn’t know you had answered.”
Bullshit!
“Look,” she said quickly. “I didn’t call to get you upset. I was just calling to make sure you were okay.”
“And that’s your concern why?”
“Shane,” she replied exasperatedly. “Why wouldn’t you be my concern? Just because we’re…” she trailed off, replacing her voice with a soft sniffle.
I paused slightly, but not because I was touched by the sound of her crying. I honestly wasn’t. I was trying not to let my irritation overflow into something irreparable between us. She was testing my fucking patience, something that I barely possessed for her. If I didn’t end this call now, there was no telling what would fly out of my mouth.
“Look, I understand your concern. I’m fine. The team is fine. You can stop calling me now.”
There was another pregnant pause before she said, with a little bit more confidence in her voice. “Oh thank God. Amanda called me tonight to tell me what happened, and I wanted to check on you. I didn’t mean to call you so late, but you know how much I worry. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” More silence before she said, “Listen, Shane, I know it’s late, and we haven’t spoken in a while. I don’t know if you’re home—”
“I’m not,” I said flatly.
She paused briefly before she continued. “Oh… Okay… Well, maybe another day. Tomorrow perhaps if you have time? Maybe you and I could get together and really talk.”
“Talk about what?” I questioned, getting extremely annoyed and not hiding it very well.
Hang up the phone, Shane.
“About us… I think… I think enough time has passed that we…”
“Casey, that’s not a good idea,” I cut her off sharply. “You’re right. A lot of time has passed, but it didn’t change anything. I haven’t changed my mind and I can tell you with all certainty that I’m going to. And you calling me eight times in one day is not going to change my mind either. Seriously, eight times? You had to have known I was fine or Amanda would have told you something different. It’s after two in the morning. Did it even occur to you that the reason why I didn’t answer you the first seven times was because I was sleep or busy?”
