by Noelle Vella
She nodded, then asked the bartender for a Mojito with black salt before she commented. “I’ll agree with you there. I don’t either. Makes me wonder.”
“About what?”
“Why Carl picked Shell.”
“Misery loves company, and they seem to be having a great time.”
She chuckled lightly as she shook her head. Her locs swayed against her back, drawing my attention to her backside on the stool.
“If you take a picture; it’ll last longer,” she said.
I looked back up at her to see she wasn’t even watching me. Her eyes were back on the TV.
“How do you know what I’m looking at? You’re not even watching me.”
“I know you see it. You can’t help it. You’re a man of color. It attracts you like honeybees to flowers and nectar.”
“Bees to honey, you mean?”
She set her glass down and turned to me. “Bees are attracted to flowers and nectar. They make the honey from the nectar and pollenate other flowers with the pollen they get from another. Therefore, you’re attracted to a nice round backside like honeybees are attracted to flowers and nectar. Or would like a moth to a flame be better suited to your understanding?” she asked, then shrugged. “It’s in your blood, unless you’re like your boy Carl.”
I didn’t know what to make of all she’d just said. On one hand, I could have taken offense to the way she’d just tried to school me. On the other hand, I could be turned on by the fact that she had a smirk on her face as she visually drank me in. I couldn’t be mad at her, though, not when my eyes were feasting on everything that made her a woman. Either way, with Gabby’s high cheekbones, she had a naturally smiling mouth. So it was hard to tell whether she was really being snide or not. I could tell her cynical mood was only a defense mechanism, and I was okay with that.
“I’m black, so black women suit me just fine,” I assured her.
“You identify as black?”
My brows furrowed. “What else am I supposed to identify as?”
“I mean, just looking at you, I wasn’t really sure, and I know how a lot of Latinos shy away from that side of who they are.”
“Not me. My pops raised me to be very proud of who I am.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything else about it. Once the bartender gave her the drink she’d ordered, I told her to put it on my tab, but Gabby stopped me.
“Thank you, but I got it,” she told me.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
The bartender didn’t know what to do as she looked from me to Gabby. Gabby handed her a twenty and told her to keep the change. I really wanted to go upstairs to my room and take a nap, but had decided to stay seated at the bar to keep Gabby company when it was certain that Shell was going to run off with Carl. I didn’t want to leave her hanging.
My mind drifted back to Ricki, and I had to wonder if she was about to be tossed aside like all the other women who’d made the mistake of getting too attached. But then again, it was unlike her to call me more than once in a day so I wanted to make sure she was okay.
I sent her a text: You okay?
I looked up when the lights flickered on and off in the place. Someone squealed. The bartender jumped and looked around. A few people took that as their cue to leave. My palms started to sweat and heart started to race.
“We can go up to the room if you want,” I told Gabby. “And don’t worry, I’m not trying to have sex with you. Just wouldn’t want you to be caught down here when the lights go out.”
Well, some of that was the truth. While I wouldn’t want her to get caught down here alone, it would be great to have her in my room. The woman was fine, and she was an authentic black woman . . . the locs, the fresh glowing face free of makeup, and an ass that swayed to the tune of African and Cuban drums each time she walked. The turquoise color against her chocolate skin made the air around her electric for me.
I couldn’t understand for the life of me what would make Carl not appreciate the beauty in a black woman.
“You want to take a walk?” I asked Gabby.
“To where? It’s raining like heck out there.”
I inwardly chuckled at her word usage again. “You’re natural anyway. Little rain won’t hurt. We can walk out to the deck, then find a dry spot in the cabana to chill and watch the way the lightning dances on the ocean.”
She finished her drink and left the bartender another tip. I told the bartender to close my tab. Signed the receipt and left a nice tip of my own. Gabby grabbed up her purse. I asked her to put my phone inside of it so it wouldn’t get wet. She did. We made our way through the crowd in the lobby, then swung around by the elevators. Looked like the power surge had put it out of business for a minute. There was crowd gathered there as well. While people were rushing inside from the entrance, I pushed the door open for Gabby so we could head out. We passed by the kids club and spa lounging area. Could see the golf course in the distance.
Luckily, the walkway was covered overhead. The wind still pushed some of the pelts of rain our way but not enough to drench us. That didn’t happen until we got to the deck. I’d always been a fan of rain. Something about it was tranquilizing for me. A stroll in the rain made it all the better, unless it was freezing cold. And that was what Savannah had decided to dump on us. I held my jacket over her head as we rushed into the cabana. Good thing it was being kept warm by heaters. No one was there besides the cabana boy. We’d been the only ones crazy enough to do so. Another thing about Gabby that drew me to her. She was daring.
Once we made it to one of the plush white seats, the cabana boy got busy pulling down the covers on the side and zipping them to close us in. He asked us if we needed anything.
“No, thank you. I’m fine,” Gabby told him with a smile.
“I’m cool,” I told him.
“I’ll be here if you need me, but just a memo . . . If the elements get too harsh, we’ll have to head in,” the blond kid told us.
I nodded as I handed Gabby one of the white towels to wipe the water from her face and neck.
“Too harsh?” she repeated. “What do they call this?”
All I did was chuckle. Couldn’t do much else when her baby doll blouse was sticking to her chest. A lace bra that matched the color of her shirt could be seen, along with the dark areola and hardened nipples. She caught me looking. I apologized.
She grunted, then inhaled and exhaled hard. “You do know I’m only keeping you company so Shell won’t think I’m trying to spoil her fun, right?”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“So what about last night?”
She gave a quick shake of her head and an aggravated shrug. “What about it?”
“You had to have sex with me to keep me company?”
“I had sex with you because you were offering it.”
“I was offering it?”
“Yeah. You were being a typical male. You know you’re attractive. Probably used to getting whatever you want. So, I figured if you were going to give it away, why not take it. It was just one night anyway, right?”
If I hadn’t been so taken aback by her assessment, I probably would have laughed.
“So is that why you were so quick to go back on your stance of no one-night stands?”
She stood, unbuttoned her shirt showing perky brown breasts, that turquoise lace bra, and toned abs. She was in tip-top shape, but that feminism that made her a woman was still intact.
She took another towel and wiped herself down as she told me, “No, but I figured if I was going to go there, it may as well have been with someone who looked decent.”
“Just decent?”
She stopped wiping away the moisture and tossed the towel in the wicker basket. “Are you fishing for a compliment, Diego?” she asked with an alluring smile.
I stood, pulled my shirt over my head, then my tee shirt. “No, but saying I’m decent isn’t the best way to describe a person’s
looks.”
I grabbed up a towel to wipe my face again. Then did the same as she’d just done. I wiped away the water that had soaked my upper body. I looked over at her to find she was watching me. I smirked.
“Take a picture; it’ll last longer,” I told her, mocking her words to me earlier.
She shook her head. “You take the cake when it comes to arrogance, you know.”
“This coming from the woman who told me because I was a man of color I couldn’t help but be attracted to her ass. Like honeybees to flowers and nectar you said.”
She ignored what I said, then walked up to me and touched the scar on my chest. A burn from a space heater when I was a kid had left me with a nice set of bars over my heart. Her delicate fingers brushed across the scar ever so lightly. She’d taken notice of it last night as well, but I guess we were too caught up for her to say anything then.
“First, you tell me I’m not attractive, and then you touch me without asking,” I said while gazing down at her.
She moved her hand. “You’re spoiled, aren’t you?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“A lot.”
I reached out to move her closer to me, but she backed away. Started to button her shirt as she did, then took a seat on the cushioned bench. I decided to leave my shirt off for the time being. I walked to sit next to her. We kept the conversation light. Talked about the beauty of a storm. Watched as lightning skittered across the ocean. She told me how, even though she didn’t condone Shell’s action, that she was glad her friend was having fun.
We talked briefly about the games men and women played in relationships. I asked her why she wasn’t afraid her ex might go all Southern Fried Homicide on her since she was such a big fan of the show.
She laughed. “He’s stupid, but he isn’t crazy. I will go above and beyond to defend myself. Believe that.”
I chuckled as I stretched, then yawned. “You want to go back in?” I asked her.
“No, but looks like you do.”
“I am a little tired. Some little lady kept me up all night.”
“Really now? Is that good or bad?”
I gave her a once-over. Cursed myself for letting her take me out of my element. Damned my dick to hell for coming to life at the thought of feeling the insides of her womanhood again.
“Are you fishing for compliments, Gabrielle?”
Her slinky smile was back. She placed her fingers back on the scar over my heart. She was smiling, but there was a serious gaze in her eyes.
“There are bars over your heart. Maybe this was a foreshadow of the future.”
I didn’t understand. I told her as much.
“You’re forty. No kids. No woman. No marriage. You’ve gone and put bars over your heart, and nobody has the key to unlock them.”
I frowned a bit, then moved her hand. “Thank you, Dr. Psycho-Analyzer. I appreciate your diagnosis. However, I’ll have to disagree.”
“Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt, my good man,” she replied, tapping the scar on my chest.
I didn’t respond. Didn’t get a chance to. The cabana boy put us off the island. We headed back into the hotel. Not wanting to wait in line for the elevator, Gabby suggested we take the stairs back up to my suite. I didn’t have a problem with that . . . until we got in the stairwell and the lights went out. I stopped. Closed my eyes, then leaned against the wall.
“Diego, you okay?” Gabby asked me.
I didn’t even front or try to lie. I wasn’t okay. I had been afraid of the dark since I’d tripped over my pop’s toolbox when I five. I fell chest first over that space heater and listened to the skin sizzle off my chest. As much as a man I prided myself to be, turning the lights out like this took me back to that moment. I mean, I didn’t have a problem with regular darkness, you know, the kind of dark where you could still see the things around you, but pitch-black darkness, the kind where you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face, was something else altogether. I opened my eyes and couldn’t see my own fingers in front of me. I could hear Gabby searching around in her purse. She pulled out my cell because I could see the missed texts from Ricki when the screen lit up. She held it up to my face.
“You okay?” Her eyes held concerned.
I shook my head and slowly plopped down on the steps with my head against the wall. “Don’t like the dark,” I told her. “Fucking heater . . . was trying to get to my parents . . . tripped in the dark. Fell on that fucking space heater. I don’t fuck with the dark like this.”
I probably sounded like the biggest damned punk God had ever created. Not even Carl knew about my fear of the dark. I kept it that way. My hands started to shake. Knees started to feel like rubber. As soon as I thought I was about to let anxiety turn me into an even bigger pussy, Gabby’s lips found mine. My hands fisted as a different kind of anxiety came over me.
She moaned while she kissed me. Made me feel like I’d tiptoed out of hell right into the clouds of heaven. She kissed me like that for maybe a good ten minutes. I could feel and hear her moving around anxiously. Once my hands grabbed bare hips, I knew she had been removing her tights. Shit. Gabby was an enigma. I hadn’t expected this part at all. Hands touching, roaming around my chest, she straddled my lap.
She went for my belt buckle, and I stopped her. “What if somebody comes through here?”
She giggled a bit. “Diego, you don’t come across as someone who’s afraid of a little public sex. With all that ‘decent’ game you were spitting last night, I didn’t take you for a cautious kind of man, at least not in this aspect. Look, the lights are out, elevators are down. Nobody is thinking of coming up or down these stairs.”
She was right, and I’d only been apprehensive because I didn’t want her to get caught. Hell, for that matter, my black ass didn’t want to be caught either. No matter how adventurous we were didn’t mean other people would like to see it. But I forgot all about that once she released me from my slacks and boxer briefs. She pulled out a condom. Slid off me to get down on her knees. I couldn’t see her face, but I could feel when she used her mouth to slide the condom into place. The heat from her mouth was blinding.
I damn near lost my mind when she rubbed the head of my dick up and down her slit. I used my head to rap against her clit as she hissed and moaned. My hands found her shirt. Quickly, I ripped the buttons away, then popped her breasts from her lace bra. My mouth latched on to her nipple greedily. I suckled like I was famished, then hungrily licked around each areola and paid each nipple equal attention.
I brought her face close to mine and kissed her lips. Then I softly licked on her neck and suckled right where I could tell her sensitive spot was. Anytime my tongue touched that spot, her hand stroking got more intense, her breathing got more erratic. She lifted her hips and guided me home just as my lips found her earlobe.
Damn.
She brought her lips to my neck and gave me soft, feathery bites that made my high that much more potent. She rocked her hips against mine in a steady beat. Rode me like she knew we had to get to our destination fast. We didn’t have that much time. I was sure the generators for such an establishment would kick in soon enough. I held her hips and took control. Bounced her up and down to match my thrusts. She handled it. Took it all. Gave little whimpers that told of her enjoyment. I gritted my teeth, then bit down on my bottom lip when I felt the tension in my balls accelerate.
“I’m coming. Oh . . . man . . . I’m coming so hard,” she crooned next to my ear.
I was too. She lay her head on my shoulder and moved her ass and hips in a dirty whine that would make men in the islands proud. I shot off like a rocket.
The lights came back on just as we were fixing our clothes. She put her boyshorts in her purse, grabbed a wipe, and used it to remove the used condom from my semi-hardened phallus. She was careful as she balled it in her hand. Once I was all put together, she handed it to me.
“I’m not carrying your kids, mister,�
� she quipped, then winked.
I laughed as we headed out of the stairwell, leaving the scent of our stolen quickie behind.
Chapter 16
Carl
I had every intention of getting Shell alone again. I was pretty sure Diego would have no objections to hitting the sheets with Gabby either. She was pissed off because she and Shell were stuck here due to the storm, but knowing Diego, I was more than confident that he could sweet-talk her out of her panties, just like he did last night. The brother could sweet-talk the panties off of a nun.
I figured since we were on lockdown for the duration, we might as well enjoy it. As soon as we got to the hotel, Shell and I excused ourselves. I had big plans for her.
“Where are we going, Carl?” she questioned.
“You’ll see,” I said, taking her by the hand.
We reached the front desk and were greeted by an overly friendly desk clerk. “Good afternoon and how may I help you?”
His overexuberant customer service smile was a bit over the top. He reminded me of Richie Cunningham from Happy Days.
“Yes . . . Johnnie,” I paused, looking at his name tag. “I’m Carl Robinson, and I’m staying in suite 501,” I said, showing him my room key. “My wife Mischelle just arrived, and I need to get her checked in.”
The look of shock on Shell’s face told me that I probably should have warned her before saying she was my wife, but it was too late for that. I was in the moment, and she needed to keep up.
“Sure thing, Mr. Robinson. I’ll just issue you another room key. Does Mrs. Robinson have any bags she would like the valet to take upstairs?”
“No, I’m here on business, and I had the wife join me unexpectedly. I’m taking her to the boutique to go shopping.”
“Wise choice, sir. Also, I see you upgraded to the Cabana Sea Breeze Package. Your bottle of wine will be delivered shortly, and you both will have breakfast in the Palmetto Café tomorrow morning. Would you like me to schedule a massage now?”
“Yes, thank you. What’s the availability?”
Johnnie tapped away on his keyboard, looking at the screen.
