Tastes Like Chocolate: A Red Hot Valentine Story (2 page)

“
Well, yeah. He is small
enough for George to take him. Kids, quiet. I’m talking to Aunt
Vivi.”

I heard the kids in the background, all four
of them younger than six, with the twins’ third birthday coming up
soon. In unison, they cried, “Hello, Aunt Vivi!”

I loved those kids. There were days after
the breakup when I took them to the beach. Sitting in the waves
with toddlers and one five-year-old going on forty, digging holes,
made me feel better.

“
Angie, I’m not sure I’m
ready to meet anyone right now.”

“
Vivi, at some point you
need to get out there again. Our kids need to grow up
together.”

No pressure, Angie. “Don’t push.” I didn’t
push back much. This time, I needed to. Reminding me I was five
years behind on kid production didn’t help anything, even if she
meant well.

“
Okay, I’ll explain it to
George.”

I hung up the phone feeling worse. Making
art, I excelled at. Men, as I’d repeatedly proven, weren’t in my
skill set. Mindless reality television took me away while I yelled
back at the idiocy on screen. Rolling over to turn off the lights,
the clock said it was midnight. In eight hours, I’d be back
downstairs with my Adonis.

Chapter Two

The alarm sounded muffled. Why was it
ringing in the forest? I pulled another arrow from my quiver.
Pulling it tight, I aimed, hitting the target in the center. The
crowd roared. Even the Prince smiled at me. He was tall, blond,
built, and looking at me, short, slightly clumsy, me. The King
sneered at him. Just as he was going to tell his father where to
stick convention and ask for my hand, the ringing started,
again.

Dammit. I rolled over reaching for the
alarm. I didn’t want to move so much that I lost the dream.
Swinging for the snooze bar, I missed landing on the floor.

“
Well, not the best way to
wake up.” I ran a mental check of my body. Nothing seemed to be
hurt. I’d say my ego was, but after years of intense, fully
engrossed dreams, I’d given up on morning embarrassment.

Making the bed started my day. In the
bathroom mirror, my hair looked post-electrocuted. My leave-in
conditioning mist calmed down the frizz so I could get the brush
through it. The faint smell of chocolate hung in the air.

I made coffee and eggs. Each day was the
same in the morning. Even after Rick and I became engaged, the
routine didn’t change. He didn’t like sleeping above the statues
downstairs, so we’d stayed at his place.

That made me laugh. It might’ve been the
perfect bodies made him feel self-conscious. Something Angie
brought up often. I saw an arrogant man with enough confidence for
a football team. She said he was trying to cover up insecurities.
One evening class in psychology and she became an expert.

Downstairs, the world was awake. Mrs.
Gonzalez stood outside her café chatting with the customers at the
outdoor tables. She waved as I opened up my gate.

“
Morning, Viviana!” She
shouted across the small street.

“
Good Morning, Mrs.
Gonzalez. Breakfast business brisk today?”

“
Yes, my dear. Full of
life, love, and family.” She said the same thing every
day.

I heard a familiar voice from down the road.
No, not today, I didn’t want to see him two days in a row. I went
back inside, put on my apron, and opened the refrigerated section
door.

Adonis stood tall and proud in front of me.
“Why can’t you come to life and kick that asshole back to
Minnesota? Just once, I’d like a man to defend my honor.”

Gold light emanated from the statue. Like
each spot of dust on his body held a focused beam of light. The
smell of hot chocolate filled the air, making my full stomach growl
in response.

I backed up. Checking the front door, I saw
my ex peek but keep moving. Thank the gods.

The light filled the room.
I held my forearm in front of my eyes, trying to see while not
getting blinded. A moaning sound bounced off the metal walls. I
wasn’t alone in the room any longer. I should be afraid. My brain
yelled
run, Vivi, run.
Standing there, my heart thudded in my chest. Thumping
against my ribcage. Reaching behind me, I grabbed a carving knife
as the light began to fade.

“
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!”
Catholic upbringings never fade, no matter how hard you
try.

“
No, you named me
Adonis.”

The statue spoke. Whoa, with a velvety
voice.

“
Uh…” I tingled in all
sorts of wonderful places.

“
You are Viviana?” His
eyes were a honey gold color.

I nodded. My creation was speaking to me.
His body was smooth, caramel-colored with light black pubic hair.
Oh! I looked up quickly.

“
You’re proud of your
work?”

His smile told me he was.

“
Yes, of course I am.”
Well, that was harsh. “Sorry, I mean. You’re chocolate. Not
real.”

He reached out to me. “You sprinkled the
gold dust on me, correct?”

A bell went off in my head. I cringed until
the ringing faded. “Yes. You are from my Aunt?” I had an Aunt my
mother referred to as “the crazy one.” She was a practicing Wiccan.
I tended to believe what worked. Aunt Lily had spells that
worked.

“
No, I’m from
you.”

My fantasies screeched to a halt. “From
me?”

“
You wished me into being.
Now, whose ass do you want me to kick?” His grin told me he’d heard
more than that.

“
How much did you hear?”
The embarrassed heat crept up my neck, covering my face and
ears.

He walked over, leaning in to kiss me. His
arms slid around my waist in one quick motion. I put my hands up to
push him away and felt hot, smooth, skin with a palpable heartbeat.
What the hell? At this point, who was I to argue with fate? I
kissed him back. Slow, deep kisses led to him licking my lips.

He tasted like chocolate! I swayed as he
pulled me into his body. The penis I’d sculpted so carefully stood
rigid between us. His hands rested on my waist, thumbs circling. I
ran my hands over his shoulders, up as far as I could reach. His
hair was soft, and slightly curly. That was my thought when I
carved it but it’s difficult to do. At that moment, I couldn’t
remember if I’d done it at all.

His mouth trailed down my cheek, leaving
light kisses as he made his way to my neck to that one spot just
behind my ears that made me whimper, pulsing with want for him. My
breath grew rapid as he drew closer, licking under my chin, slowly
moving to the side. The desire pulled a moan from my lips; if this
was a dream, leave me here, forever.

He found the spot. My hand moved to the back
of his head, pushing him harder into my neck. Soft circles with his
tongue set off twinges of desire between my legs. I wanted to pull
him down on top of me, but resisted. Whoever, whatever, this man
was, he knew what he was doing.

“
Viviana, is there
something you need to tell me?” Rick whined behind me.

That voice jolted me back to awareness. What
was I doing making out with a statue? Did I still give a flying
damn what Rick thought, though? The one who casually admitted to
cheating on me with every member of my bridal party, except Angie.
Who apparently punched him in the face. I love her. Adonis pulled
back a small distance. I could still smell his breath as he pressed
his lips to my forehead. His muscles tightened around me, having
more to do with the man in the doorway than my body pressed against
his.

I glared at him from Adonis’ arms. “I told
you it was over when you admitted cheating on me. Repeating it
again yesterday doesn’t seem to have worked. Is there something you
need to hear from me to stay away?”

My suddenly live god reached out with his
arm, grabbing Rick by his collar. “You leave this store and her
life now, or I will hurt the parts you think are important.”

Both men looked at his crotch, which Rick
covered with both hands. His face turned a dark shade of red I’d
never seen on him before. Nice work, there. His breath might be cut
off, that’s okay, but don’t ever threaten his dick.

He nodded, fear and anger on his face. “I’ll
leave,” he croaked.

Adonis backed away from me, pushing me
behind him. “I’ll take care of Viviana from now on. There’s no need
for you to come by, call, email, fax, or inquire about her welfare
from her friends.”

The temperature in the room dropped. He
clenched the arm firmly around me. I’d have pinched myself if I’d
thought of it. Every dream I’d had in weeks came true in front of
me. A gorgeous man stood up for me, embarrassing Rick in the
process. The throngs of witnesses and internet videos were missing.
I’d make do.

Adonis let go of my ex who slunk away, the
bell ringing his exit.

“
Thank you.” I caressed
his cheeks. There was hostility there as he continued to stare out
front.

“
He hasn’t left. He waits
for you outside the front window. Who is this idiot?” He softened a
little, kissing my forehead.

It did occur to me I was about to tell a
man, who was a chocolate statue ten minutes ago, my personal
business. I didn’t care at that moment.

“
My ex-fiancé. He made his
sexual services available to all of my bridesmaids.” It still hurt
to say aloud.

I looked down to avoid seeing the inevitable
pity flash across his expression.

“
He is a fool.” He
announced it like it was news.

I had to ask. “Who are you?”

He shifted his weight to press his crotch
against my stomach again. The heat melted away my question. He
picked me up, carrying me to the front of the store. The windows
were tinted and yet, I felt exposed. At the door, I reached out,
locking it and flipping the sign to ‘Closed’.

He carried me upstairs to my bed. As soon as
he set me down, I scampered to straighten up, wiping non-existent
dust from a table. His laugh shook the room.

“
I’m here for you, Vivi.”
He crawled onto the bed, holding his hand out to me.

I looked over at him. No, there would be no
regrets. Even if he vanished in moments and I found out later I was
hallucinating.

Taking his hand, I let him lay me down. My
hands shook as he lowered his chest over mine. He shifted his
weight, leaving my lower half exposed and feeling cold.

“
You called me Adonis,” he
said, removing my shirt.

I nodded as he pushed the material aside,
reaching into my bra to expose my breasts. My emotions soared with
hope even as I tried to squelch it. This could be the beginning of
something or another setup for disappointment. Deciding it was best
if I didn’t think, I tried to turn off my inner voice.

“
You are beautiful.
Voluptuous. A woman it takes time to taste and explore.” Then, he
did.

Starting at my head, he kissed my entire
face, lingering over my lips to lick them in circles. I kept
reaching down for his penis but he backed away, smiling. He moved
lower, teasing my nipples until they stood straight up. He reached
down, removing my pants and panties with no effort.

He slipped his fingers inside me and I
arched my back. He moved them in and out, even while I wriggled
with pleasure. As he teased my clit with his thumb on each thrust,
I found myself having sex with his hand, and enjoying it.

He leaned down, wrapping his other hand
around the back of my neck. “I want to hear you scream with
ecstasy.”

I wanted to answer, needed to say something,
but each time I opened my mouth, only a moan came out.

Pressing his hand inside of me, he pulled me
to him as I groaned, wriggling my hips toward his. He pinned my leg
down with his while picking up the intensity with his hand. He
moved so fast I could no longer tell when he thrust, only that a
growing heat traveled down my legs, and my hands started to tingle.
Oh gods, my orgasm wasn’t going to wait for him to be inside me. My
back couldn’t arch any farther as he held me firmly while his
wiggling fingers entered me over and over again.

My breath was no more than a raspy groan as
he pulled his fingers from me suddenly, leaving a need I’d never
known. I whimpered, and using what strength I had to wrap both arms
around his shoulders, I pulled myself up and kissed him so deeply I
thought he’d pull away. He didn’t. His tongue met mine move for
move as he laid me back down. He grabbed my hips, nudging me under
him and pressing his entire body onto me.

I shifted my hips up, rewarded with the hard
length of him pulsing between my legs. I wanted him, needed him, at
that moment. He held me still, rubbing his hard cock up and down,
the head pushing gently at my opening only to keep thrusting. His
breathing was rapid as he again lifted his hips, teasing me with
the length of him. The penis I sculpted was almost inside of me. I
couldn’t think; all I could do was moan, thrusting my hips against
his hands, hoping he’d reward me.

His gravelly voice was filled with desire.
“Are you ready for me, my love?”

“
Please, don’t leave me
like this.” My fear rushed to the front, even in this
moment.

“
I’m yours,
forever.”

He grasped my ass and entered me slowly. I
whimpered with each push. He moaned as I used my vaginal muscles to
squeeze him inside of me.

“
That’s the best
trickery.” He chuckled.

I looked up at him hoping he was mine,
forever. The gold dust still flecked in his eyes.

“
More.” I licked his
lips.