“I really am playing nice, Blaise,” I whined, defending my original response.
While some of it had been part of a conscious effort to not look like a complete bitch on camera, the majority of it was an organic response to Knox’s aura. Because even though he had matured in an aesthetic and chronological sense, Knox was still all about having a good time, all about good energy, all about the things I had fallen in… like with before.
Still, I didn’t expect my whining to encourage Blaise to ask, “Wait… how nice are we talking?”
“Not that kind of nice!” I shouted, my skin immediately flushing red as I peeked over to one of the cameramen who let out a quiet chuckle.
And as I served him laser beams with my eyes, Blaise had the nerve to joke, “Mackenzie could use a little cousin. A playmate. A… dance partner.”
“Anyway! I’ll let you go. Give Malia my love. And baby girl too,” I told him as I picked up my phone from the ground and took it off of speakerphone as if it wasn’t already far too late before continuing on, “Maybe you guys should come out for a visit. A little vacation could be the perfect thing to get Malia’s head right.”
“That might actually be a good idea. I’ll see what I can cook up,” Blaise replied before we ended the call.
My first order of business after pushing my phone into the pocket of my hoodie was cutting my eyes back to the cameraman to say, “You better edit all of that shit out.”
While I could tell he was a little intimidated by my demand, he still managed to pipe out a weak, “That’s... not my job, Ms. Lambert. I get the footage, and I hand it over to Shep. That’s it.”
“Well lose the footage,” I snarled, groaning as I slipped past them to head upstairs to the bedroom, the only place they couldn’t follow me.
Since I only had a little bit of time to get dressed before the event, I used most of it for a long, hot bath. One that ensured my muscles wouldn’t tighten up too much after spending most of the morning in the studio. And after a quick rinse, I walked out of the steam-filled bathroom just in time to hear Knox yell, “Ri! Ri, you about ready to go?”
“Almost,” I shouted back, dropping my towel so that I could lotion up all over.
And as I worked the lotion into my calves, Knox’s voice seemed a little closer as he said, “Babe, we gotta hur… shit.”
My head was the first thing to pop up as I snatched my towel from the ground in an attempt to cover myself and screamed, “Knox, what the hell?! Nobody told you to come in here!”
But of course, while I was a frantic mess, Knox was completely chill, completely… enthralled as he replied, “You didn’t tell me not to either. But uh… that doesn’t look almost ready. Unless you gettin’ ready for somethin’ else...”
I rolled my eyes as I bee-lined towards the bathroom, Knox’s eyes following me the whole way as I told him, “No, asshole. I just have to put on my dress.”
“Shit. My dress,” I thought to myself, immediately realizing I had left it resting on the bed. And as if Knox could read my mind, he knocked on the door that was slightly cracked open before slipping it through the space.
My, “Thank you” came out as more of a whisper than anything as I got rid of my towel and quickly stepped into it just in case Knox could see me. But the second I went for the zipper, it only made it halfway before it got caught on the fabric.
“Damnit,” I said out loud as I tried to pull it back down. But it wouldn’t budge either way, making me grow even more anxious as I weighed my options.
Options that hadn’t even thought to include Knox offering, “You need some help in there?”
“I got it,” I yelled through the crack of the door as I continued to yank at it, silently praying it would get unstuck sooner than later.
And as my efforts continued to be unsuccessful, Knox insisted, “Amerie, you’re gonna break it if you pull it too hard.”
“I said, I… fuck,” I sighed as the pull tab slipped from my hand and went flying clear across the bathroom, bouncing off the wall before falling onto the floor.
To no surprise, Knox couldn’t help himself in rubbing it in as he finally pushed the door open, wearing a smirk as he said, “I tried to tell you, babe. But you just had to be hardheaded.”
I could only groan with annoyance as I slipped past him, holding my failed dress close to my chest as I went to grab another from the closet. While I would’ve loved to find one that was zipper-free, knowing whatever I chose to wear would be recorded and replayed over and over again acted as motivation for me to find something at least a little fitted. And when I landed on a dress similar to the one I had originally planned to wear, I felt grateful for its existence while also feeling anxious as I thought about dealing with yet another zipper.
Of course it didn’t take long for Knox to notice the similarity as well when he immediately offered, “Ri, just let me do it this time. I’ll keep my hands to myself, I promise.”
No matter how much I wanted to turn him down, I knew if we were really going to make it out of the house on time - and if I was going to save my dress - it was in my best interest to let him handle it. So after making quick work of exchanging the old dress for the new one in the bathroom, I came back out into the bedroom, keeping the dress clutched tightly to my chest as I stepped in front of the mirror and waited for Knox to join.
His steps were slow and steady as he approached me, staring at me intently through the mirror with a sexy smirk before his hands landed at the small of my back. But instead of zipping me up like I expected him to, I watched in shock as he dipped his head against my bare collarbone, landing a series of kisses and nibbles along my skin that immediately made me moan.
I should’ve been fighting him off, cussing him out, snatching away from him. But the longer he went, the more turned on I became; my eyes fluttering closed as I growled, “Knox…”
“I said my hands. Didn’t say nothin’ about my lips,” was his whispered reply directly into my ear before he continued to taunt and tease me with his mouth.
At least that’s what I thought he was doing until I heard him say in a regular tone, “You’re good to go.”
“Huh?” I asked, my eyes snapping open to find Knox already heading towards the door, nowhere near where I was still standing which made what I thought was happening completely impossible.
And the confused look on his face spoke volumes when he clarified, “Your dress. It’s zipped. Now let’s go,”
“Oh... Right.... Thank you,” I stammered, completely flustered - and embarrassed - as I used the bed post for much-needed support so that I could stuff my feet into my heels.
Not that they were hard to get into. But my legs felt like noodles as I wrestled with my imagination; battled against the insane thoughts that had consumed me with no explanation.
I mean, it wasn’t as if I was suddenly interested in being with Knox no matter how much I appreciated his obvious growth. And I definitely had no business getting into anything physical with Knox. But no matter how well my mind knew that - no matter how well I thought I had trained my mind to know that - it had still managed to betray me by allowing me to daydream about the things I should’ve been totally against.
While I dealt with my own personal crisis on the inside, Knox’s bewildered look remained as he stood in the doorway and asked, “Ri, you aight?”
“Perfectly fine,” I pushed out as I snatched my clutch from the bed and headed towards the door.
Though my pursuit was cut short when Knox didn’t budge to let me past him, instead catching me by the wrist to ask, “You sure? Your face is... shiny. Like you’re sweatin’ or somethin’.”
I placed a gentle hand against the side of my neck, hardly surprised to find it warm to the touch considering how warm I felt all over after imagining what would’ve usually been the beginning stages of… shit.
“My skin must still be a little hot,” I replied, not doing myself any justice as I watched Knox’s eyebrow pique with interest, forcin
g me to continue to explain, “I… rehearsed this morning. For the show I have coming up. And I needed a bath to relax my muscles.”
Knox finally let my wrist go, stepping to the side so we could leave. But it didn’t exactly provide me much relief once he reminded of the past when he followed behind me and asked, “Damn. So now you too good for one of my signature rubdowns?”
“Those never end well,” I tossed over my shoulder, keeping my smirk to myself as I focused on making it down the stairs.
And I was glad I had made it to the bottom of the staircase before Knox replied, “Your memory must be shot. Because if I remember correctly, they always ended very well.”
He was right.
They always, always ended well. Usually with a satisfying soreness between my thighs, and in my… jaws. But I wasn’t sure if I could acknowledge that part without begging for one right here right now. So instead I asked, “What’d you used to call it? A happy ending 2.0?”
His voice held a gratifying hint of amusement when he said, “Ahh, so you do remember?”
And as I stepped out onto the porch, watching Knox as he locked the front door behind us, I challenged, “How could I forget?”
“Sometimes you act like you’ve forgotten about us,” he insisted, looking down at me with another one of his smirks as he pulled the corner of his lip between his teeth.
Maintaining eye contact felt like a job as his gaze became heavier and heavier, making me wonder if his thoughts - his memories - were as violently erotic as mine seemed to be. And they always had been, part of the reason I had been forced to suppress them; forced to avoid him.
But like now, even then it had been a struggle, which for whatever reason allowed me to admit, “I used to wish I could.”
“Why?”
The pressure of his simple question was way too much to bear, forcing me to turn away when I answered, “I’d… rather not talk about it.”
And I was grateful that he didn’t press it any further, instead catching me by the wrist again to say, “I respect that. But just know… a happy ending 2.0 is always available. Whenever you need it, babe. Just say the word and I got you.”
&
The competition was a complete disaster, though there wasn’t exactly anything wrong with the organization, or the dancers, or their routines. But being around Knox after daydreaming about him and being reminded of his... talents had turned into a complete disaster as far as my sex drive was concerned. It was as if every feeling and desire I assumed would remain dormant had finally decided to erupt inside of me with the magnitude of a once in a lifetime volcano. But I also knew it was better for me to take the heat alone instead of acting on impulse.
So instead of reacting to every gentle hand against the small of my back as we took pictures together, instead of falling for Knox’s usual flirtatious banter, instead of following him back to his house as opposed to going to my own, I held onto all of that sexual energy with plans to burn it out in the studio.
Dance had always been a way for me to express myself no matter what I was going through, but especially when I couldn’t get the sexual satisfaction I craved; satisfaction much deeper than just any regular ol’ orgasm. And leave it to that bout of horniness to have me practicing different strip tease moves to Beyoncé songs well after midnight; well after the cameramen had called it a night.
Since I knew they were gone which meant the house should’ve been empty, I was completely startled when I heard a voice behind me ask, “You still do this, huh?”
Without looking, I recognized the voice enough to ask, “Knox, what are you doing here?” Wiping my face free of the sweat I had worked up doing exactly what he probably assumed I was.
When I finally did peek up at him through the mirror, ready to serve him an attitude for impeding on my private time, I was immediately distracted when my eyes landed on his bare chest before making their way down to the sweatpants hanging low against his waist.
Definitely the last sight I needed to be seeing in my current state.
Still, I tried to play it cool as I listened to him answer, “Hard to sleep with fuckin’ Beyoncé thumpin’ through the windows. I thought these walls were bass-proof, but obviously not.”
Then he began to make his way over to where I was sitting as he asked, “So what’s up? Why you in here dancin’ all your sexy out instead of just… gettin’ some?”
“That’s none of your business, Knox,” I told him as I popped up from the chair, heading back to the sound system to find a new song to dance to.
And he followed right behind me as he said, “Oh, it’s definitely my business when you got me jealous of a fuckin’ chair. How much I gotta pay to sit down?”
My back was towards him and thankfully so, as I bit my lip thinking about just how much I’d love to grind on him the same way I had been grinding on the chair for the last few hours. And just the thought of the friction I could create was enough for me to answer, “You know what… free of charge. Go sit.”
“Yo, you serious?”
“Go sit,” I repeated a little more sternly, turning around and urging him to the chair with a little push.
The smirk he wore in response made my heart disgustingly bloom. But that wasn’t enough to stop me from turning around and picking the sexiest song I could find. I mean, if I was going to do it, then I was certainly going to go all out. And it only took a few short scrolls to find the perfect tune; Would You Mind by Janet Jackson.
Once the beat dropped, it was like a light switched on in my body as I immediately became consumed with the lyrics while strolling over to where Knox was slouched in the chair.
“Baby… would you mind touching me…”
“Ever so slowly…”
“You're making me quiver…”
“Baby… would you mind undressing me…”
“Making me feel sexy…”
“While in the moment…”
I pulled the t-shirt I was wearing over my head, leaving me in just my sports bra and leggings. Then I straddled Knox’s lap, quite aware of the fact that his dick was already pretty hard the second I made contact.
Stay focused, Amerie.
I reached behind him, my breasts hovering in front of his face as I pulled his hands behind his back and tied them together with my shirt. But once again, I was almost distracted when he growled, “Fuck, Ri…” reminding me of just how easily this situation could go left; left meaning me on my back, free of the rest of the clothes I was wearing along with any inhibitions I had when it came to dealing with Knox.
Him being restrained was bigger than just making things a little sexier. It was the only way I knew I wouldn’t cave. So once I had him reasonably locked in, I wrapped my arms around his neck, and let the lyrics take me where they originally intended.
I used his neck as leverage to grind up and down against his upper body, letting the hard ripples of his abs tickle me through the thin fabric of my leggings. And while I could tell Knox was struggling not being able to touch me, it made me feel empowered as Janet Jackson crooned about everything she wanted to do to her man; everything I secretly wanted to do to Knox.
“Cause I'm gonna bathe you, play with you, rub you, caress you, tell you how much I've missed you…”
“I just wanna touch you, tease you, lick you, please you, love you, hold you, make love to you…”
“Fuck, Ri…” he growled again, only egging me on to go harder as I turned around and swept my ass against his rock solid thighs.
Since his hands were tied, I used my own to roam through my hair as if they were his; something I always loved when he did. Then I threw my head back against his shoulder, holding onto his thighs as I grinded against his dick that seemed to be growing by the second.
“I know you feel that, babe…”
Of course I did. And of course I had already imagined all the ways I could take it right here, right now. But that wasn’t the point of this little game.
Shit, what was the point of
this little game?
Before I could come up with an answer, the song came to an end, leaving me with a much bigger problem than I had come into things with. Now I was brutally aroused, Knox’s dick was… right there, and there was nothing reasonable I could do about it besides the obvious.
“Yo, that was fuckin’ incredible. Go put that shit on repeat, Ri,” Knox cheered unsurprisingly, reminding me of what this was for him. While I was in desperate need of relief, he was just being an opportunist.
So what I thought was going to be a tough task suddenly became easy as I climbed off of his lap and told him, “You wish. I’m going to bed.”
“Shit, me too. Yours,” he added arrogantly, bringing my attitude on with full force.
“I give you an inch, and you expect a mile. I give you a little lap dance, and you expect some pussy,” I muttered as I rolled my eyes, walking behind the chair with all intentions of untying him.
But once I saw the restraint, I came up with a better idea. And he only egged it on when he responded, “What’d you expect? I’m supposed to just let you throw all that ass my way and not want a piece of it? Did you forget who you are? What we are? How good I can make you feel? The happy ending 2.0? Matter of fact, untie me so I can show you how it’s really done in that bed of yours you wanna get to so bad.”
I smiled wickedly as I leaned in to whisper in his ear, “The only place you’ll be showing me how it’s done is in your dreams.” Then I gave him a little pat to his shoulder and told him, “Goodnight, Knox,” before heading straight for the door.
I could hear him pulling against the restraint, urging me to walk faster as he called out after me. “Ri! Babe, quit playin’. Amerie!”
And I could only laugh as I shouted back, “Goodnight, Knox!” Stopping out of sight near the doorway so I could listen to him continue to struggle.
But once I heard the rip of my shirt meaning Knox had managed to free himself, I bolted up the stairs as fast as I could, being sure to lock the bedroom door behind me.
Knox
An Encore for Love Page 12
