Willows, Jennifer - Lust for Life [The Moreland Brothers 2] (Siren Publishing Allure) (20 page)

Charli stopped in her tracks. Man? Her man? Actually, it felt less weird than she thought.

They were sitting in massage chairs, frothing minty water past their ankles, when Mak apparently decided to probe a little deeper.

“Now that we’ve discussed what happened, what do you want to take place?”

Charli didn’t respond for long moments. She needed the time, either to decide what she wanted to say, or to formulate the words to speak it.

“I want him.” That could mean a lot of things, and Charli knew it.

Mak just arched a brow, so similar to the same look her husband gave that Charli immediately explained herself.

“Mak, he feels so good. I just... can’t help but to fight it. You know the story of my life. Everyone that should stay abuses me then leaves. I just can’t give him... everything.”

“But you want to.”

“God yes I do.” Charli felt so much relief just to say what had been on her mind for months. There had been long, lonely nights spent with numerous dreams of Deven, and his integral role in too many fantasies in the year since they met. “But he’s not for me, Mak. I’m the daughter of a crack whore and a death row inmate. Not to mention my old lifestyle. What decent man wants a former drug dealer? Who not only sold weed to college kids but had one of the largest grows in the state? There’s no way this could be anything more than a jump-off or be a ghetto booty call. Hell, I could probably be his number three on the bench or something. Come on, the man is a trust-fund-baby and old money at that.” Charli felt as if she might cry, but she was a pro at heartbreak, and her eyes dried before the first tear could escape.

“Charli, you are a wonderful woman, and you deserve the chance to be happy. When my mom was first diagnosed with breast cancer, I was lost. I had no idea what I was going to do, all the way in New York City, you were the one to pick us both up from the depths of despair and dust us off. You gave mom and me a place to live, rent free for over a year. You paid her medical bills until the job you got for me would cover her chemo. You made sure I got to and from work every day until I could afford to get transportation of my own. I’m pretty sure it was you that made sure we ate when I was too tired to cook at night. You even bathed mom when I couldn’t. That was all you. Any woman who loves deeply enough to do that for another person is worthy of a good man who will love and appreciate the jewel that he found in you.”

Even with Makenzie’s pep-up speech Charli was, for the first moment in her life, feeling regret. Her choices led her down a road that she couldn’t veer away from. She couldn’t turn back the hands of time and change anything that led to this moment. To be honest, she wouldn’t change any of it. If not for hustling, then she couldn’t have helped her surrogate mom, Sharon. If not for hustling, she wouldn’t have a house to shelter her best friend when she needed her home to heal.

But at this moment, she wished... that she wasn’t so jaded and angry, and she wished that she didn’t harbor the blood of two weak people. Neither of her parents was good for much, and if she could, she’d write off the first ten years of her life. But that wasn’t fair to Sharon. She was more her parent than anyone, especially her birth mother Geraldine Morris.

Only a nasty piece of work would try to sell her daughter to a fiend for a fix. Charli would never forget that moment. Not as long as she lived, and she wanted be rid of the scarring episode even more than she wanted Deven.

By the time her mind was back with her body, and her eyes dried, Makenzie looked worried. She was biting a thumbnail, a habit she only got when nervous.

“Heffa, I’m okay.” Charli was back, in mind and body.

“I’m sorry, Charli, I know that there are things that you keep to yourself. And that it’s for a good reason.”

“Either way, it hasn’t done any good inside my head. Rattling around for nothing. I do know that. Don’t feel guilty for being my friend. That’s what we do. And if I didn’t want to talk about it... then I wouldn’t.” Mak agreed, head nodding.

Mina, their nail technician, came to Makenzie first. When Johnny, Mina’s husband, finished the full set of nails he was working on, Charli was next. Mina greeted both of them, but she spoke mostly Vietnamese, and her husband was Korean. So Charli felt all right with talking about what she was thinking.

“I want him, but I know what that means. So I just think I’m going to let it flow. As long as he wants me, then I’ll be with him. I’ve never let myself form bonds to another, Mak. You know that. The only exceptions are you and Mom. When it’s over, then it’s over. I knew the score beforehand, and I will just have to pick up the pieces when it’s done.”

“But it doesn’t have to be like that, Charli. You could give it a chance. I know he’s feeling you. That may turn into love, and you could have him.”

“I’m not looking for love, just...” What? A good time? Sex? Charli didn’t know how she could even finish the sentence. Mak must have had the same thought when she just gave her another cocked brow. “Romance.” Charli had never been swept away, wouldn’t let herself go with a man like that. But Dev had romanced her with adventure and blistering sexual heat. “I’ve never given myself the chance to be showered with someone else’s attention. I want that just to tuck away, later when I’m lonely, and need a memory to keep me warm.”

Charli had never thought of what she was missing when she wandered the path of a hustler and only now did the lack of a family of her own bother her, a husband who loved her and children to kiss before bed. If she kept on barebacking with Dev, she’d get a baby and no husband to go with it. She hadn’t been to the doctor to get her shot in eight months. No point, since she was spending nights alone. She needed to get that appointment made today. Because the way she was getting down with Dev was going to end up one way. Pregnant. Charli caught herself shaking her head in a vain attempt to void the errant, yet not entirely unwelcome thought. There had been a period where she didn’t want kids, but as she got older was sure she could do a better job than her mother. She saw Johnny was headed her way. Apparently he was done with the full set, since his client was under the hand dryer.

Makenzie looked her way before speaking. “I have one last thing to ask and then I will let the matter drop. Could you love him, Charli?”

Charli took a moment to look her in the eye and responded, “If it were anyone, it’d be him.”

The women fell silent, letting the foot massages and hot water pamper them. Charli’s felt so good, she almost nodded off. When the pedicures were done, Mina painted their toenails. Makenzie opted for a turquoise polish and a few gold flowers. Charli decided on a French tip with a few tiny rhinestones on the big toe. As they hobbled to the drying station, toes spread out in foam flip-flops, Mak picked up a couple of bottles of water. Mina was checking on the wax, and Johnny was prepping the rooms and paper underwear.

Makenzie and Charli looked at a few outdated Cosmo magazines and pointed out things they liked, or laughed at things they hated. By the time they had discarded two of the small stack, Johnny was back. He took Mak first, and Charli was left to her thoughts.

Long minutes later, Makenzie came out to the waiting area, her eyes and face were beet red. Johnny waved Charli back as her friend gingerly took her seat. When she walked in the small room, Mina gave her a book and in stilted English said, “You choose.”

Charli already knew what she wanted and pointed to a cartoon picture of the ‘full monty.’

“Bwaa-jhee-an?” Charli presumed she meant Brazilian, and nodded yes. Mina handed Charli a paper panty and a sheet, and walked out. A few minutes later Mina knocked at the door and, when Charli told her to come in, walked inside.

The next twenty minutes was torture-filled. Especially when it came to her crack. Oh god, Charli damn near wanted to hurl. The bikini wasn’t bad, she had done that before. This time she decided to go bald as a baby, and the crevices hurt the worst. No wonder Mak had red eyes when she came out. This was going in the “do not repeat” file in her memory for good. When she was done, Charli put her panties on and picked her steps carefully outside to the car. Makenzie had paid while she was in the back getting torture tactics thrown at her.

Sitting on the cool leather felt good, and Charli finally felt a little less sore.

“Can we go to the downtown office right quick?” Makenzie probably wanted to tease her husband with her fresh wax job.

“Fine by me.” Charli just shook her head. Those two needed to get it out of their systems. She’d thought that over a year of constant sex would get stale, at least a small bit.

The trip downtown took nearly half an hour between the train and traffic. Once they found a spot, parked the car and they walked up the block to Front Street. When they reached the lobby doors, the guard let them in with a head nod to Makenzie. He was a stocky man, Charli guessed in his mid-50s, a sharp, cautious glint in his eyes and well-trained, erect frame giving away his ex-military status.

“Good morning, Burke, my guest and I are just going up to see Charyn.”

“Of course, Mrs. Moreland, allow me to escort you to the elevator.”

“There’s no need to stand on ceremony, Burke. I can use my elevator key.”

Burke appeared offended, as if she called him a coward. But he let her pass and eyed them all the way down the hall. Makenzie put a key in a switch by the button marked
P
, turning and then pressing the button after it backlit. When they reached the top and walked in, the office was surprisingly normal. Not that it was anything less than opulent, but the comings and goings appeared just like any other company she’d seen. There was a lot of crown molding and heavy wallpaper, most likely a fabric. The few employees they passed to the back of the office smiled and greeted Makenzie. They must have seen a lot of her over the last year. When they reached the back of the space, three offices took up the wall. Charyn was standing outside his with Deven.

Deven’s face lit up when he saw Charli, and she couldn’t help but smile back. Before she got the chance to greet anyone, Charyn greedily secreted his wife into the office behind him, closing and locking the heavy dark-stained door.

“God knows they are sluts,” Deven remarked, and Charli laughed at the modest assessment. He was preaching to the choir on that one. “Come with me.” Deven took her arm, and they walked to his office, the middle one. He didn’t give her a chance to say no as he took a leaf out of his brother’s book and closed the door.

“You said the girls’ day was full service? Did you?” He stopped and pulled the snap on her jeans open. Charli just looked down at his hands and let him slide the pants to her ankles.

“Step out of your shoes, Charli.” He helped her, holding her steady as she toed the slide-on sneakers off.

“Love the toes, baby. Now lemme see the rest.” Deven didn’t wait for her, just rubbed a hand softly over the front of her panties.

The peach lycra boy shorts were wet, the crotch dark with juices. She was always incredibly wet for weeks after waxing.

* * * *

He pulled the panties south and panted at the bare mound presented to him. Her clit was exposed, the barest protrusion between her nether lips and he wanted to taste the shiny bright-pink nub. The panties were forgotten, and he lifted Charli onto his soft leather chair in back of his desk. Deven lowered his mouth and gently opened her lips. His tongue bathed the whole of her sex, splitting the delineation of her pussy with his hands. He took time and care to make sure every caress was so gentle, so considerate, that she would beg for more.

She chanted beneath her breath, and he still kept the maddeningly slow pace he’d begun with. He tasted every denuded fold of her sex, checking the thoroughness of her prior waxing. Finding the nude pussy to his satisfaction, he delved deeper. Once his open mouth enveloped her, pointed tongue probing wet walls, he felt her combust. The only thing holding her screams at bay was Deven’s hand clenched over her lips. Even with the faux gag, moans still crept past his palm in the air. The room was silent, and each gasp of pleasure sang in the stillness. Charli had slumped so far down in the chair that her knees nearly touched the floor.

Deven whipped his cock out, stroking himself with silken motions. He rubbed his hand up and down, then back again. Charli watched him and appeared mesmerized, leaned drunkenly forward. She opened her lips to seek the taste of him. Deven’s hips jerked and he stepped back.