I stood up and offered them both a hand, then followed them out, watching, assessing. Halfway to the car, it finally clicked what had been bothering me.
Cherise was in charge. Elise and I were just participants. Talk about performance anxiety.
The girls stopped at Elise’s green Accord and stood hand in hand.
“Her place or mine?” Cherise asked.
Smiling, I wrapped an arm around both of them. “Whatever makes you ladies happy is fine with me.” What the hell else could I say? We weren’t going to my place, and I wasn’t running the show.
“Follow us.” Cherise sounded giddy as she kissed Elise on the cheek, then dragged me away by the hand.
I’ve never heard Cherise talk as much as she did on the way to her place.
“You’re excited,” I said once I could squeeze a word in.
“Well, yeah. It’s been a while.” She turned in her seat to face me and ran a hand up my thigh. “Aren’t you?”
“Yeah.” I flipped on the turn signal, then checked the rearview mirror to see if Elise was still behind me. She waved.
“You nervous?” Cherise leaned over so her chin rested on my shoulder.
“A little.” I turned into the complex and parked, leaving the spot in front of Cherise’s door for Elise.
“Why are you nervous?” she teased, laughing softly. “Just relax. We’re gonna have a good time.”
Inside, Cherise poured everybody wine, then kicked off her shoes, letting them land somewhere under the stairs. She leaned against the bar while I sat on the couch, one arm draped around Elise’s shoulders.
“D, do you want to watch or just jump right in?”
“Why don’t I let you two get comfortable and then come watch?”
“You don’t have to do that.” Elise leaned against me, smiling in a way that should have tempted me, but I stuck to my guns.
“Suit yourself.” Cherise laughingly pulled Elise from her seat, and the two ran upstairs.
I heard the thump of Elise’s shoes hitting the floor, more giggles, and then silence. I finished off my wine, then picked up Elise’s wineglass and drank it a little slower while I kicked off my own shoes and sat back to listen, my gut twisting in anticipation. I’d give ’em ten minutes.
More laughter and Cherise or Elise, I’m not sure who, telling me what I was missing, convinced me to knock it down to five. Standing, I poured another half a glass of wine for courage and sipped it slowly while unbuttoning my shirt.
For a few minutes, I couldn’t hear anything, then, “Hurry up, D’Angelo!”
Smiling, I headed for the stairs, taking them two at a time until I reached the top. They were stretched out on the bed, lips locked, Elise’s face hidden by Cherise’s hair. The sound of them kissing and the sight of those two naked, pretty bodies in bed convinced me watching was the way to go—for now. I slid my shirt off and sank into the room’s only chair.
Despite her natural tan, Elise wasn’t much darker than me, while Cherise had obviously spent a lot of time in the sun, topless. The two of them wrapped around each other had to be one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.
Elise shifted so that she lay stretched out on top of Cherise and buried her face in her tits. Cherise looked over at me and smiled, and I adjusted my legs to accommodate my growing hard-on. I sat there rubbing it and watching them, waiting to see what would happen as Elise worked her way lower. Cherise’s hands were in her hair, and she kept talking, rambling on like she did when we fucked. I almost felt jealous, and the thought made me smile. There wasn’t really anything to be jealous about.
I stood and stripped off my jeans and briefs, while never taking my eyes off the girls. Elise had her face between Cherise’s thighs, and I couldn’t see anything, but I could definitely hear the wet sound of her tongue in Cherise’s pussy. She had her eyes closed, her legs spread, her hips arched off the bed as she moaned.
Moving closer for a better view, I wrapped my hand around my dick and stroked myself slowly. I wasn’t about to blow my load on a hand-job. Not with those two waiting.
But I wanted to watch just a little bit longer.
Elise had her ass in the air and her knees tucked up under her, her pussy spread wide; for a minute I considered just ramming into her. Instead, I sat down, lifted Cherise’s leg so it was propped on my shoulder, and smiled down at Elise. I pushed her hair out of her face and watched her tongue stroke and suck the soft pink folds of Cherise’s pussy. Her chin and the tip of her nose were wet.
There’s something beautiful about watching two women together, beautiful and soft and feminine in the way they know each other’s bodies. Ways a man could probably never understand.
I tucked her hair behind her ear and then ran a hand down the length of her back, over the curve of her ass to her pussy. Her hips shifted, and I slid two fingers inside of her, happy to watch and play despite my own painful erection.
“You like that, D?” Cherise asked. She was smiling, arms stretched over her head grasping the headboard, eyes half closed, her hips shifting, riding Elise’s tongue.
“Very much.” I kissed the inside of her thigh and smiled back at her. “Very, very much.”
Elise’s pussy clenched around my fingers, and I decided it was time I did more than watch. I pulled my fingers out, licked them, and gave Cherise a wink before moving behind Elise. The girls shifted so there was more room but never missed a beat. I spent a long time admiring Elise, who’d shaved everything. Her pussy was smooth and very, very wet. I planted a soft wet kiss on one cheek of her ass, then the other, then slid lower, letting my tongue tease the tender skin just below her puckered little hole. She started to hum, and Cherise started to laugh, and I dove in, using my fingers to keep her lips spread apart.
I didn’t stop until I heard Cherise shouting that she was gonna come. I pulled back to watch, wiping my chin and stretching out alongside them, one hand hanging on to Elise’s ass, kneading it. Cherise’s hips were arched off the bed, her face buried in the pillow as she thrust, hard, against Elise’s mouth a couple of times.
She collapsed against the mattress and pulled Elise up by the hair, and they were kissing again, their mouths open and their tongues teasing each other. I wanted to come so bad my dick had started to leak, but I wasn’t ready for this to end. Not yet.
Cherise purred and then giggled some more as she rolled onto her side, her hand between Elise’s legs. “You have a job to finish,” she said, looking my way.
“I know.” Smiling, I stretched out on my back and flicked my tongue at Elise, who giggled.
She straddled my face, and I wrapped my arms around her legs, pulling her down so I could reach her pussy with my tongue.
A drawer opened, then closed. I felt the cold wetness of a condom being slid on, and then Cherise was riding my dick. Moaning, I shifted, almost unable to concentrate on Elise. She was moaning, too, her hands wrapped around the headboard above me. They were almost in sync, Cherise’s hips lifting and falling in time with Elise’s while my tongue dove in and out of her. I sucked at her clit and nibbled at it. She squealed, grinding hard against my mouth and crying louder and louder.
I closed my eyes and let myself drown in complete sensory overload until Elise finally slid off my face and collapsed next to me. I kept an arm wrapped around her, listening to the sound of her trying to catch her breath. She wiped my jaw off and whispered something about me smelling like pussy. Smiling, I pulled her mouth to mine and let the climax that had been building below finally erupt.
I felt like I had been sucked dry by the time Cherise finally collapsed on my chest, her head next to Elise’s.
“Who’s ready for round two?” she asked, laughing softly.
“Not yet,” I whispered. I could feel my heartbeat in my dick. It was almost painful, especially with Cherise’s pussy still contracting around me.
She finally slid off me and took the condom off. I opened my eyes enough to watch her disappear down the stairs. I turned and s
miled at Elise who lay curled up beside me, her head on my chest.
“Y’all do this often?”
“This is my first time,” I confessed.
“How long have you two been together?”
“Almost two months.” Technically, six weeks was almost two months, right?
“Seems like longer.” She smiled, then gave me a soft little kiss.
She was right, though; it did seem like longer.
The rest of the night passed in a tangled daze until I couldn’t move, and they went downstairs to shower together. By the time I woke up, Elise was gone and Cherise was downstairs frying what smelled like bacon.
I grabbed my clothes and eased down the stairs, slipping into the bathroom for a quick shower. Cherise had breakfast on the table by the time I came out.
“What time did Elise leave?”
“Early. She had to go to work.” She set a cup of coffee on the table in front of me and kissed the back of my neck.
Somewhere in my sleep and sex-fogged brain, it registered that she’d put sugar and cream in it for me.
“You okay?” She tilted my head back and let her hands slide down my chest. There was no missing the worried expression on her face.
“You mean last night? That was some pretty amazing shit.”
Laughing, she forced me to scoot my chair out and fell into my lap. All she had on under her tiny robe was a pair of white panties, and she smelled sweet, like oranges.
“Think you might want to do it again sometime?”
“Hell yeah.” I reached up under her robe, part of me amazed I could even think about sex after the way we’d gone at it last night.
“Why, you nasty boy,” she said, grinning.
“I’m your nasty boy, though.”
She practically purred with pleasure at that, and breakfast got cold while we had a quickie in the kitchen. Afterward, she hopped in the shower again while I stood at the counter, eating my reheated eggs.
The first time I’d been in Cherise’s apartment, I’d been too busy trying to get her panties off to pay attention to my surroundings. Then we always seemed to end up at my place, so I hadn’t been back over here since that first time.
This time I took stock, carefully.
The neutral, apartment-grade carpet.
The worn navy couch we’d fucked on the first time. It still had a little life left in it, and it matched the chair upstairs.
The television and the table it sat on, both spotlessly clean. Frowning, I double-checked to make sure my first impression had been right. Not one picture decorated the walls; not one photograph sat propped in a frame on the television; and the homey touches, the silk flowers on the end tables, seemed generic and almost disposable.
There were no photos. Not upstairs, or I would have remembered. Not downstairs. None. Anywhere.
.
6
“W hat are you doing on Monday?” I stood at the door, ready to leave. After putting Mom and Dad off for weeks—no mean feat when you work for your dad—he’d cornered me, insisting I come for lunch today and plan on spending the afternoon.
Even though I’d suggested she come with me, Cherise’s good mood had vanished when I’d told her why I had to go. And she’d said no. “Working.” She adjusted the framed 5 X 7 photo on top of the TV stand.
I’d given it to her last night for our two-month anniversary. She’d tried to act like she didn’t care, but she didn’t fool me. Not the way she kept looking at it and messing with it. Her reaction had convinced me that I was on the right track with her—at least as far as figuring out what made her tick. Even though I still hadn’t figured out why she had no pictures and why she had an aversion to family.
“Monday’s a holiday,” I reminded her. “I’m pretty sure neither of us has to work, ’cause Aunt Glo does a huge-ass Labor Day barbecue at her place and invites like half of Houston.”
“Oh…oh, yeah. She mentioned it.” She finally finished adjusting the photo to her liking before turning to face me.
When she didn’t say anything else, I pushed on. “Want to go with me?”
“And, like, meet your family and shit? No thanks. Besides, I’m supposed to go to Lexi’s I think.”
“’K, then.” Swallowing my disappointment, I crossed the room to give her another kiss good-bye. Before I’d even taken a step, she asked if I wanted to go with her. “You do realize missing Aunt Glo’s barbecue is punishable by death in my family?” I teased.
“Would it kill you to do something different?” Her shoulders were stiff under my hands.
“No.” But I’d have to think about it. Blowing off a major family event could have serious repercussions and involve a shitload of nagging. “What do you have against family get-togethers?”
“I just don’t want to spend my day off with Vivi.” She shrugged off my arms and took a step back, forcing me to release her.
Fair enough, but I didn’t believe for a minute that’s all there was to it.
“So, you’re not coming with me?”
“I might. I might not.” I didn’t like being pushed, not even by Cherise.
Cherise had been wrong; the barbecue was at her friend Lanie’s.
Okay, so I didn’t exactly blow off Aunt Glo’s barbecue. I just left early and ignored Vivi’s demands to know where I was going. She’d have a complete and teetotal bitch fit if she knew about Cherise. Just for her, I made up some BS about meeting Kevin, knowing she’d drop the subject immediately.
Leaning back in the patio chair, I glanced through the kitchen window to where Cherise and her three friends were getting the last of dinner together. The sun was almost gone, but the pool light made up for it.
“You do know what they’re doing in there, don’t you?” Devon asked. Carlotta’s boyfriend was a riot. Even in Dockers and a polo shirt he looked like a computer geek, which made the occasional observations he threw out even funnier. As couples went, he and Carlotta probably looked like they went together about as well as Cherise and I did.
“Huh?”
From my other side Wade snickered. “Getting the dirt on you.”
“Oh, shit,” I muttered, and took a sip of my beer.
Both men laughed, and inside, all the women did, too, almost as if they’d heard Wade. He was Lexi’s boyfriend, and they both worked construction. Lanie, apparently, was the only one solo tonight since her boyfriend was out of town on business.
“Speaking of dirt, the rumor is you and Carlotta are moving in together,” Wade said.
“I should neither confirm nor deny that rumor,” Devon began when Wade and I both interrupted him laughing. “But, yes, it’s true.”
“Congratulations,” I murmured, still laughing to myself.
The women trooped out, their hands loaded with bowls and paper plates. Wade pulled the steaks off the grill, and Cherise collapsed in my lap before I could even offer to help.
“How am I supposed to eat with you blocking me?”
Turning, she wrapped an arm around my neck. “I’ll feed you, honey.”
“What are you gonna feed me?” I gave her an evil grin and ogled the cleavage almost directly under my chin.
“Now, now, none of that,” Lanie said. “If I can’t get lucky in my own house tonight, no one else damn sure is.”
“My place or yours?” I asked once we were back on the 610 Loop.
“Yours.” She put the seat back and closed her eyes.
My thoughts and John Mayer for company, I left her alone most of the way home except to occasionally glance at her out of the corner of my eye. Cherise had a smudge of barbecue sauce on her white tank top.
“Why do you keep looking at me?” she muttered, lowering her sunglasses.
“When’s your birthday?”
“December.” She sighed.
“What day?”
A semi blew by on my left-hand side, blowing its horn.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want you gettin’ all pissed at me
if I forget. I can’t forget if I don’t know…. You know what I mean.”
“All right.” She put the seat up and ran a hand through her hair. “My favorite color is pink, which is a no-brainer even for a guy. My favorite flowers are zinnias. I wear a thirty-six D bra and size six panties. I sunbathe topless, usually at Lanie’s house on Sunday afternoons with the girls, and I don’t know when my birthday is. Happy now?”
Shock forced my foot off the gas. “Hap—how the hell can you not know when your birthday is?” I frowned at her, then forced myself to focus on the heavy traffic again as I took the exit for my apartment.
“I wasn’t born in Texas.” She sounded matter-of-fact but angry, like she could start an argument with me any second. And maybe even wanted to.
“What the hell does that have to do with…If I was smart, I’d drop it,” I said, almost to myself.
We eased up to a red light, and I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. Her jaw was twitching, and she had her arms crossed over her chest again. She licked her lips and glanced out the passenger window just as the light turned green.
With a monster truck behind me, I had no choice but to go. Once we were in the elevator on the way up to my loft, I cornered her. “Look—”
“Drop it, D.”
“I care about you, and whether you like it or not, that means I want to know about you.”
“Maybe I don’t want you to know about me.” She stood in the corner, glaring at me.
The elevator eased to a stop, and I went to stand next to her.
“You want me to take you home?” I asked as the doors slid open. My gut twisted. I hoped like hell she’d say no.
“That’s okay. It’s late.” She stepped out of the elevator and I followed.
Cherise didn’t speak again until she’d stripped down to her thong and climbed into bed. She had all the pillows tucked behind her head and the sheets pulled up to her chin. “I was in foster care.”
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