Lethal Love: Deceit can be Deadly

by Perri Forrest

  Raquel’s form erected. Her bottom lip trembled. Her lids didn’t blink once. I paid her with a smize. It felt good to see her bitch face tighten. How dare she come into my space with bullshit on a night that I was trying to enjoy myself. Who the fuck did she think she was? I had a feeling that I was going to have to deal with Raquel; and not in a good way.

  “Are you done attacking, Nova?”

  “Oh, sweetie. Trust me… you’re not being attacked.”

  If I was attacking you would know it. Right before you took your last breath.

  She hunched her shoulders in response. “Listen, whether you believe it or not, I’m not your enemy.”

  “You kinda are, Raquel.”

  “Why do you feel that way?”

  “Because any woman with integrity wouldn’t defend him. Any woman with an ounce of remorse would have led with, ‘I’m sorry for what he did to you. I’m sorry for what you’re going through.’ That’s not you. And because of that, the only thing I feel for you is disgust. He had a baby on the way. He slept with my best friend for years. And then he killed my best friend. Yet here you are trying to plead his case. See what I just mapped out for you? I consider you an enemy and can’t fuck with you.” I leaned in close again to make sure she heard every word I was about to say. “Listening to a liar might end up costing you… your job.”

  I added that last part so that I could veil the threat to her life, behind a threat of a different kind. I was sure she caught it, though.

  “Wow…” she mouthed.

  “Gather your man, Raquel, and get out of my space so that I can go back to enjoying myself.”

  “How’s it going over there?” Leo asked, having relocated back to where he belonged—next to me. He lightly nudged my thigh. “You good?” he asked.

  “Uh-huh. Me and Raquel were just wrapping up our conversation.”

  “Yes, we were just wrapping up.” She smiled at me and Leo, before standing to her feet and reaching for her man’s hand. “Thanks for your time, Nova. And Leo, it was very nice meeting you. You two enjoy the rest of your evening.”

  After the guys shook hands, Raquel and her other half, exited stage left.

  “You good, Nova?” Leo asked again.

  I turned and offered him a big smile. “I’m better than good.”

  “You enjoying yourself?”

  “Absolutely. I needed this.”

  “You say that like you’re done for the night.”

  I shook my head. “Nope. Not done for the night at all.”

  “Good, because I’m enjoying you too much to let you go just yet.” His hand did a soft trail down my arm. Shivers and shrills took flight inside my stomach, and up and down my spine. A pleasure sigh fell from the small hole between my lips. “In fact—”

  “How about we go to your place?” I blurted.

  Shit! Did I just say that?!

  Those pretty eyes of his bore into me, surely waiting to see if I would change my mind before he could respond.

  He’s giving you an out, girl! Take it!

  But my mouth couldn’t move. It was because with everything in me, I didn’t want him to reject the idea…

  After a lengthy pause, Leo finally spoke. “I would love to take you back to my place.”

  31 | Leo

  My manhood stood at attention. It was ready for battle… the good kind. I would describe it as I would Nova’s labored breaths—long and hard. Way before she whispered, “I just want to feel good, Leo…” I had already assigned myself to making that happen for her. I wanted to give her a space of time where she didn’t feel the need to be in control. Where she could let herself go completely, and not feel like she was doing herself a disservice by doing so.

  Nova came out of her dress on her own. It shed seconds after we entered my loft. I took that time to not only do the same, but retrieve a condom from a black lacquer case I kept in the area.

  I had asked her twice if she was sure. The last thing I wanted was a woman waking up the next day regretting sex with me. So, I gave her plenty of times to opt out. But she plowed forward.

  Once the dress was off, she let it slide to the floor where she stepped over it like it was unwanted trash. Gazing at her, champagne and chocolate came to mind. If splendor was defined in human form, she would be it.

  “It’s what I want,” she said with reassurance. “I don’t want you to think—”

  “I don’t think anything.” I had to pause to take the full visual in again. “…except that you’re a beautiful woman.”

  “Thank you,” she said, taking slow, confident steps to where I stood.

  As still as the room was, it seemed to come alive with every move she made. She wore nothing under the dress, not even so much as a thong. I knew that when we were dancing. That was why my dick twitched against her more times than I could count. I kept as much control as I could under the circumstances; and even though she never said anything, I knew she felt my excitement. It was hard to miss.

  I stayed where I was. It was probably one of the only times where I was stuck, and at a loss for words. I was ready for our bodies to talk, get acquainted. When she was near enough, everything took off from there. I reached out for her and pulled her to me. When our mouths collided, it was like we were feeding a neglected appetite. Something that had been worked up during the many phone conversations; and during the rise of our sexual energy while we danced…

  We only made it to the wall that stood a few yards past one of my condom stashes. There, my mouth peppered long kissing trails along the length of her neckline, as I held her tight.

  “This… is… good,” she whispered in a sultry, chopped-up response.

  “It gets better…” I said to her, as more of a promise than just a basic phrase.

  I turned her around to face the wall, kissing along the back of her neck, across her shoulder blades, then down the silky skin of her spine. I stopped at that slope, for nothing more than to admire. “Beautiful,” I whispered, going down on my knees.

  With a perfectly tight cheek, palmed in each hand, I brought my mouth down on one at a time, nibbling and sucking. I pressed, squeezed and tugged; sometimes parting the gateway to her back door, as I gave equal attention to each mound.

  Her moans danced around the space of my loft, and were like music to my ears. She was all in. She had surrendered control—of her actions, of her voice, of her emotions.

  My fevered erection jerked impatiently behind its latex armor.

  Erecting from my spot, I grasped the area around her waist. My free hand met the one she had laying against the wall. “You good?” I asked her.

  “Ohh… I’m better than good. Sooo much better…”

  With confirmation, several strokes later, I was parked inside the mouth of her wetness. My dick went crazy. It was new territory. He liked it there… a lot. I entered her at varying speeds that were sometimes fast and sometimes erotically slow—slow, seemingly her favorite. However, it was clear from the way she grinded against me, that she valued them both.

  I drove in and out in unplanned patterns—some deep thrusts, some just barely—but all one-hundred-percent determined by her. The more she cried out, the more I gave her.

  “Ohhh, ohhh, I love the way this feels…” she expressed more than once.

  I loved the way it felt too. It was just like I imagined it; probably even better. Every time I went deep, I felt wrapped in a space that might let me out and might not. Whether deliberate or by reflex, Nova’s walls closed around me with every stroke. The tight squeeze felt like a much-needed massage. Made me not want to pull the fuck out at all! It felt too damn good.

  “Ahhh, ohhh… I’m about to… ahhh! I’m coming!” she groaned out, her head falling against my chest.

  The closer she got to the peak, the tighter she squeezed against me. And the closer I got to my own…

  Fuck!

  I was surprised as hell when my nut came with a vengeance. And it didn’t just come with a vengeance; it came
to stay. Every time I thought I had let off as much as I could, more followed. And as it took over me, it only took a second for me to realize that what I formed with Nova, went far beyond the physical. It was the connection that we had formed during the building of our friendship.

  One thing was certain, two things for sure… Nova was precious cargo that needed to be treasured and protected at all costs.

  “Hey, you…” We had both crossed the finish line, and for a few short seconds, it seemed Nova had retreated to her thoughts. I rubbed her thigh waiting for her to give me a response. “You good?”

  Her head turned slowly to look over her shoulder. “What do you think?”

  A confident laugh fell from my mouth. “You really wanna know what I think?”

  “I really wanna know what you think.”

  I gave her shoulder a nibble. “I think we could make a fire with all the friction between us.”

  “I would agree.”

  I leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I say we give this wall a break, and do it before my legs collapse under me.”

  “Mine are already trembling!” she exclaimed, throwing her head back and laughing heartily.

  “Whoo! I ain’t alone. Let’s blow this spot; then I can dump what should’ve been several condoms and—”

  “Grab some more?” she teased.

  “Shit, if that’s what you want. I’m game for whatever.”

  “What a coincidence; so am I.”

  I took her hand into mine. “Follow me then,” I said, leading her from the living area.

  After my trip to the bathroom, I went into my bedroom. I was happy to see that Nova had made herself comfortable under the sheets. My dick instantly did a hard bounce in reaction to seeing her. It was like some kind of radar that detected expensive metal in the area. I subtly covered my excitement so she wouldn’t think sex was all I wanted from her. Hell yeah, I wanted it. But that wasn’t the only thing I wanted.

  Had she been any of the women that I normally bedded, she would have already been fucked and set aside until the next urge hit. But she was much more to me than a basic urge. So, the plan was easy to follow—I was going to make love to her and then keep her around. Whether she knew it or not, she needed me. And whether she knew it or not, I needed her. With every performance on tonight’s stage, I planned to show her that.

  “I like the way you look in that spot,” I told her, biting down on my lip. “It’s a good look. Real good…”

  “Is it your spot, though? I know everybody has their designated spots in their own beds.”

  I climbed in next to her. “You’re good right where you are.”

  With me…

  32 | Nova

  Was it weird or wrong… that I didn’t feel weird or wrong?

  I could hear people now. ‘But you’re still married’. Or ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right’. Or, ‘You didn’t waste any time at all!’

  And yeah, on a thin-ass sheet of parchment paper, printed on a fancy laser printer at the Clark County courthouse, I’m still married. But Drew Levine was married each and every time he decided that home was worth the risk—and then went on to risk it all. And as far as two wrongs not making a right… in my world they did. And in my world, it led me right into the arms and the bed of a good man. Was I ready to make him my man? No. But was I ready to treat myself to some feel-good? All goddamn day long and on holidays too, if I felt like it.

  It all came down to me, and I liked it. I liked him. I liked how he looked at me. I liked how he touched me. I liked how he felt… in the spiritual way, and in the physical. I wasn’t giving that shit up, and I planned to indulge every chance I got. Why? Stated simply… because I damn well could. And because the end result of our encounters, left me with a feeling that soaked me in a state of euphoria.

  Yeah, euphoria.

  The sun had barely risen when Leo gifted me with a trip to the Southern region of my womanhood. He tongue-kissed my folds; inside and out sending me quivering with each lap around that oval-shaped pool. That man knew how to wake a woman up in the best way. I didn’t even want to let him know that I was awake because it felt so damn good. I felt like a sampler selection at the best restaurant in town. You know the place that people happily endured the long wait because the food is that good? Yeah, that place. That’s how he made me feel. I was the anxious drive there, the long line, and the full dining experience.

  I hope that I didn’t give the man a headache when it was all said and done. Because with each climax, I grabbed onto what was the nearest to me—his hair. That thick, black, part-wavy, part-curly head of hair. The silkiness of it helped to calm me, anchor me while he treaded through my dark waters.

  A travelling tingle down my spine, and then… “Nova?” almost in a whisper caused my eyes to flutter as slowly as the smile spreading across my face. “You still sleeping, beauty?”

  “Something like that…”

  Another kiss to the back of my neck. This time, each and every unseen little hair stood tall. Through the small half-awake slits in my eyes I could see that morning had reached us and brought the full sun with it.

  “Something like that?” he asked, pressing his manhood against me. That subtle contact brought with it all the memories of last night; and all of the memories that spilled over into the break of dawn.

  “Yep, something like that. I thought for sure you’d be done with me by now. But… mmm… from the feels of it…”

  “I don’t think I could get tired of a single piece… of any of this.”

  “Well, I’m kinda glad for that, because I was just dreaming about all the perks that come with you not being tired. Let’s just say that I need those kind’a dreams as frequently as possible.”

  “And let’s just say that I like making dreams come true.”

  I turned around to face him, surprising even myself. I hadn’t even brushed my teeth yet. It was way out of the norm. Usually, it was out of the bed, straight to brushing my teeth, and then getting into a steamy stream of water.

  “I’m starting to believe that.”

  “Starting to believe it? If you’re just starting, then I’m not doing something right.”

  “Oh nooo. Everything’s right, sir. Scratch that last part from the record.”

  “Oh okay. Because I was about to say.” He laughed.

  “So, I have a question,” I said to him, in semi-serious tone. “You don’t feel weird, do you? About any—”

  “Weird is not even in the vicinity of how I feel,” he said before I could finish. “Why should I? We ended up here because we wanted to. You’re not doing anything wrong, and neither am I. Why did you ask that? Did I do anything to give off that impression?”

  “Nooo sir,” I giggled. Erotic flashbacks flooded my mind, causing my nipples to instantly erect. My yoni even yanked a little bit. “Not at all!”

  “Okay, good.” He peeled himself away from me, and then sat upright. “I guess we better get the rest of our weekend underway.”

  “Huh? You were serious? You really wanted to spend the whole weekend.”

  “Why’d you think I wasn’t serious?”

  My shoulders hunched. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, now that you do… we got places to be. Let’s get goin’,” he said, coming around to my side of the bed to lift me into his arms. “First things first…”

  And then there was the shower…

  33 | Nova

  Two weeks later…

  Coronado Island. The number of times my mind revisited that weekend two weeks ago with Leo should have been a crime. It had been the source of distraction in at least three meetings that I could think of. Many memories had been made in those days. Memories that I wouldn’t forget any time soon.

  Leo, being who he is, showed me a time more amazing than anything I could’ve imagined. Had it all planned out. The only thing I had told him before the “date”, was that Italian, was my favorite. When we went to Skyfall that Friday night, then back to his place, I
thought that was how our first “date” would end. But it was far from over. Leo had planned everything down to a “T”. A private flight to the island, a suite at Beach Villa at the Del, and some of the most exquisite Italian food I’d ever had at II Fornaio.

  We spent a lot of time talking, and getting to know even more about each other. It was quality time… time well-spent.

  Still two weeks later, I remembered every episode of the club, the island… the sex. Every little detail. Since that getaway, I had seen Leo a few times. Of course, there was sex. I’d had a taste of the good pipe; there was no way I was turning that down when opportunities presented themselves. And although we were intimate, surprisingly, there hadn’t been anymore sleepovers.

  As good as he made me feel, I wanted finality with the Levine guy, and the Levine name. A clean break. If I had it my way, I would try my best to get this thing tossed out as an annulment on the grounds of fraud. Because Drew Levine was definitely a fraud—and so was the marriage. Even if that was an impossibility, that man would never be claimed by me. As far as I was concerned, I had never been married.

  That was the reason for my trip today.

  He had been sitting on divorce papers that had been mailed to him way before the transfer. I think in that warped corner of his brain, he thought there was hope for us. Why, I didn’t know. Because with all the time he’d had in the pits of hell, there had been plenty of moments for his dumb ass to figure out that he’d been beaten at a game he was never equipped to play.

  While I waited, my stomach tightened with anticipation.