Page 41

DAVINA

“Assholes,” I grumbled as I lay flat on the love seat in my office.

It was a little after nine o’clock, and now that all the drama and commotion had settled and Tish had gone home, I was looking at the pictures of me and Deke from Sunday’s brunch. Who even took these? And why the hell did it matter who Deke was talking to?

The caption was so stupid: Deke Bishop Spotted with Unknown Woman during Giselle Grace Rumors .

At first, I thought the article wouldn’t be so bad. It was only an image of us walking out of Manhattan Rose, and he was hardly touching me, only escorting me toward the valet. But then I scrolled down and saw the image of us almost kissing in the parking deck and his hand propped on my car.

I was so glad the photo had only caught our upper bodies. I couldn’t imagine how humiliated I would feel if they’d captured him with his hand in my panties.

I sat up and crossed my legs, grabbing the Chinese-food carton on the table in front of me. Tish, for the first time in months, didn’t care that I stayed in the office late. After the fiasco from earlier, I hadn’t gotten much work done. I was too busy stewing over what Gloria had said and drowning in a pool of betrayal.

Our new products were going to be launching in a week, and I had some work to catch up on. I also didn’t want to go home and see all those pictures of me and Lew.

Besides, my office was where I produced the clearest thoughts. It was my domain and mine only, and it gave me a boost of confidence knowing I’d worked so hard to have a place like this with a city view.

I slurped noodles into my mouth as my phone rang.

Deke was calling. Again.

I ignored the call.

After that stunt from Gloria, I was so embarrassed that I didn’t want to speak to him. I had to think of the right words to say, first. He’d heard me throw everything on the table about Lew, things that were too personal to discuss with him so soon.

I was surprised to see he was still calling anyway. Any other guy who’d heard a conversation like that probably would’ve blocked my ass. But not Deke.

My phone buzzed loudly, and once again, it was Deke.

With a sigh, I picked it up and answered. “You don’t have to keep calling me. I’m fine, Deke.”

He ignored me to say, “I’m in Charlotte.”

“What?” My eyes stretched as I set the greasy carton on the coffee table again. “What are you talking about? Why are you here?”

“Where are you?” he asked, once again ignoring me.

“Deke—what are you doing? You didn’t have to come here. I’m fine, and I’m not mad at you. I just needed time to think—”

“Davina, where are you ?” His voice held more bass. It sent a jolt down my spine and not in a bad way.

“I’m at my office, but Deke, you really don’t have to—”

“I’m on the way.” He hung up before I could get another word in, and I lowered the phone, shocked and confused.

I didn’t know why the hell he was in Charlotte, but I closed the lid of my food carton, placed the chopsticks in the brown bag the food had been delivered in, then rushed to the mirror in the corner to check my appearance.

I’d reapplied makeup after all that crying and looked okay, minus that one pesky curl at my temple. I tried smoothing it down, until I heard my phone vibrate on the table. I popped a mint into my mouth before grabbing it.

Deke: Come unlock the door.

I darkened the screen of my phone and left the office, carrying myself through the hallways and past the lobby, until I was at the main entrance.

I could see Deke before I reached the glass doors, dressed in black basketball shorts and a white sleeveless athletic shirt. His shoes looked like the kind players wore during games, and I remembered him saying he had a practice scrimmage earlier with a few teammates.

When he caught sight of me, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

I couldn’t help returning one.

I tapped the code into the security box and unlocked the door, pushing it open to let him inside. I took a step back as he entered, and his eyes never left mine as he twisted the lock back in place.

“You good?” His voice was low, husky.

I looked up at him as he moved closer, towering above me. “Yeah. I’m good.”

“You weren’t answering my calls, D.”

I swallowed as I looked away. “I know. I’m sorry. Please don’t take it personally.” I was apologizing a lot lately. How was he not sick of me?

Like always, Deke’s fingers came to my chin, and he tipped my head back up so I could look at him. “I dropped everything and drove here when you didn’t answer the first two calls. I know it sounds desperate as fuck, but I needed to know you were okay. I needed to see it for myself.”

“Well ...” I threw my hands up quickly and let them fall so hard they slapped my outer thighs. “I’m okay, Deke. You didn’t have to drive all this way just to check on me.”

“I know I didn’t. I wanted to.”

My eyes softened, and my heart sped up. “Why?”

“I don’t think you realize it yet, but I care about you, Davina. You have me doing things I don’t usually do just so I can see a smile on your face.”

I couldn’t help smiling at that. “Well, it’s very thoughtful, Deke. Thank you.” I grabbed his hand that was still touching my chin and laced my fingers with his. “Come on. Let’s go to my office.”

I led the way and didn’t let go of his hand until we walked into the office. But it was at that moment I realized I only had one lamp on, leaving the room dimly lit. The warm white light created a calming, romantic ambience.

My wax melt burner was lit up in one of the corners, allowing a warm pear scent to fill the room, and it didn’t help that outside all those windows was one of the most beautiful city views to behold.

“Davina’s domain,” Deke said as he walked deeper into the office.

I laughed. “You could call it that.”

He looked through the floor-to-ceiling windows, soaking in the skyline. He was like a god with those sculpted arms revealed and his head tipped just so.

When he stood a foot away from the window, I met up with him and absorbed the view too. His head turned, and he put on a cute grin as he reached for my temple. He tugged on my unruly curl.

“That piece of hair is the bane of my existence.”

“I think it’s cute,” he said. His phone rang, and he dropped his eyes, sighing as he fished it out of his pocket. “It’s Arnold.”

“Oh?”

“I’m supposed to be meeting him tomorrow so we can fly to LA for some dunk contest. He’s probably calling about that and all this BOBBLE shit.”

“Tomorrow?” I asked, though my voice came out higher than usual. “Well, what the hell are you doing here, Deke? You should be home preparing for it.”

“You’re right. Plus, I signed a contract, so if I don’t show, they’ll probably sue the fuck out of me.” He laughed dryly.

I blinked at him, stunned. “Deke, please tell me you’re joking.”

“I’m not.” He laughed for real this time, slipping the phone into his pocket as I shook my head. “I’ll make it back in time. Don’t worry about that right now.” He closed the gap between us and gripped my waist. “The woman I heard earlier. That was your husband’s mom?”

“Yeah.” I smashed my lips.

“I just wanted to make sure. We don’t have to talk about it.”

“You heard everything,” I muttered with a shake of my head. “I’m sorry you had to hear that. I’ve never had a good relationship with her. She saw all that BOBBLE stuff and—”

“Davina,” Deke said, voice soft. “We don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to.”

I nodded. Good, because I didn’t want to.

He turned me so my back was facing the window, and as he moved forward, I moved backward.

“What are you doing?” I laughed as he lowered his head.

“Just wanna kiss you,” he murmured on my lips. “Make you forget all about it.”

I felt a flutter in my belly as my back hit the cool glass. “So do it,” I challenged.

“Is that all you want me to do?”

“No,” I breathed.

“What else then?” His mouth was closer. He slid one of the hands on my waist down to the curve of my ass.

“I don’t know,” I said, and he gave my butt a squeeze, which caused a needy breath to catch in my throat.

“Well, I know what I wanna do.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Take this skirt off and fuck you against the window.” His mouth grazed my jawline, and his voice carried up to the shell of my ear. “Can I do that to you, D?”

His voice nearly made me fold. My lips parted as he hovered his mouth above mine. “Yes.”

“What’s the magic word?”

I leaned in and kissed him softly, slowly, coaxing an illicit groan out of him before whispering the answer. “Brunch.”

His mouth curved into a smile, and before I knew it, he was taking his shirt off and I was tearing at the buttons of my blouse. He reached for my skirt and unzipped it from the back, and when it and my panties were a puddle around my feet, he took off his basketball shorts and boxers and picked me up in his arms.

I gasped and wrapped my arms around the back of his neck, afraid I’d fall.

“I got you, D,” he murmured. There was safeness in his voice. A sureness. I relaxed.

Deke adjusted me in his arms and pressed my upper back to the window. The glass was cool on my skin, but when I looked into his eyes, all I saw was heat that could melt a glacier.

“Should I get a condom?” he asked.

“If you want to,” I whispered. Then I added, “I’m protected, though. I assume you’re clean?”

“All clean.”

With one arm holding me steady, his other went down to grip the base of his dick. I couldn’t help but look. It was dark and thick, with a round, dark-pink head. He was already hard, stroking it up and down. The tip of it glistened with anticipation, and I drew in a steady breath as he inched closer.

“You’re protected, huh?” he breathed out, like he was surprised to hear that I was.

“Yes.”

I wasn’t about to get into a whole spiel about how I hadn’t stopped taking birth control after Lewis had passed, or the months before that, when he was diagnosed. We barely had sex after that crippling news was delivered, and though I had a feeling we never would again, I still held out hope.

And just because I hadn’t wanted to find love again, it didn’t mean I wouldn’t want to have sex again.

“That’s all I need to know,” Deke said, bringing me back to the present. He pushed the head of his dick into me, and a breath escaped me as I dug my fingernails into his shoulder blades.

Shit.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this sort of penetration, and with it came a familiar sting. He pushed in deeper, before lifting his head to find my eyes.

“This okay?” he breathed.

“Yeah. Keep going.”

He cupped me in his hands while giving me what I wanted. Each thick inch of him stretched me more, and I caged the corner of my bottom lip between my teeth.

A groan rattled in his chest, and when he was all in, I couldn’t resist the satisfied moan that slipped out. He was so big—bigger than I expected—and I loved it.

“Damn, Davina,” he groaned. “I knew you’d feel good.”

He held my gaze, searching my face until I finally dropped my mouth on his. He pressed me flush against the window, and our kiss was wild, sloppy, and eager. Our tongues twirled and entwined as he pumped his hips.

He thrust into me again and again, hissing through his teeth when he tore his mouth away.

“Oh, fuck,” he groaned, gripping my waist and bouncing me on his dick. He took a step back so that only my upper back remained on the glass, and he clutched my waist tighter as he looked down at where we were connected.

“Damn,” he rumbled. “You look so good with me inside you.” His heated eyes flickered up to mine, and he pulled me off the window to carry me to the sofa, not once pulling out.

My back hit the cushions, and if I thought he felt big standing up, missionary was out of this world. I moaned as he thrust back in and spread my legs farther apart as he kissed me.

“Tell me how you want it, baby,” he said on my lips.

“Faster,” I breathed, and he moved his hips faster, delivering rapid thrusts. I collected his face in my hands, and with my mouth close to his, I said, “Harder.”

He went harder, burying into me in repeated strokes, his groans thickening by the second. I felt all the blood in my body rushing to that sweet spot between my legs, and every time he drove into me, I was sinking into a delicious abyss.

My back arched, and Deke sat up, tilting my hips upward so that all that was left on the sofa were my shoulder blades and the back of my head.

“Look at you,” he rasped again, his voice sending a tingle through me. His voice was strained, like he was trying his hardest not to come yet. “You’re gripping me so tight, Davina.”

“Oh my—” He had to stop talking or I swear I was gonna come.

As if he sensed it, he lifted my hips up and down effortlessly, pushing me closer to climax. I felt like a rag doll in his hands, like I was the weight of a feather. He was too good at this. I could feel him even more, and an intoxicated yelp bubbled out of me.

“Look at me.”

I dropped my chin, and he lowered my hips to the sofa again. When he pulled out, I couldn’t help the whining noise that pushed through my lips.

“What are you doing? Why are you stopping?” I asked.

He flipped me over to my stomach, and when he said, “Bend over,” I understood exactly what he wanted. I bent over and arched my back, looking over my shoulder to watch him fist his dick. When he was ready, he placed a flat hand on my lower back and drove into me.

I cried out in bliss, clutching the couch cushion.

“I’ve wanted to see your ass bouncing around my dick for months now,” he said after a carnal groan. “You know I had to hit it from the back, D.”

He spanked my right cheek before gripping my ass with both hands and thrusting. Every time he went deep, my eyes rolled farther to the back of my head. I could feel his dick rubbing against my G-spot. I was going to come. I couldn’t hold back anymore.

The noise that came out of me was a mixture of pain and pleasure. Sex had the tendency to feel so good that it hurt, but sex with Deke felt so good that it annihilated me.

“Oh, yeah. That’s good, D,” he said. “Come for me. It’s all yours, right?”

I sucked in a breath, nodding as he pushed in deeper. It was mine right now. All mine. Nothing could take it away.

“You have the perfect ass, baby. Keep your back arched just like that.” His voice was thick and sweet like honey. “I wanna keep looking at that beautiful ass while I fuck you.”

This man.

His voice.

He was beyond anything my mind could comprehend. He was so primal, so blunt, so damn sexy.

I pressed my cheek to the cushion and moaned. I swear he felt harder, bigger, like he was swelling inside me with every pump. His breathing quickened, and he gripped my waist so tight I was sure it would leave a bruise, but I didn’t care.

“You’re about to make me come, baby,” he panted.

After several rigid thrusts, Deke sunk his full length into me while unleashing a thunderous groan.

Then he yanked himself out just as quickly and came on my lower back. His come was hot as it spilled downward, and as he breathed raggedly, I collapsed, belly flat on the sofa.

We stayed that way a moment, catching our breath, letting the moment sink in.

Deke finally got up to find some napkins and wipe his release away. When it was gone, he lowered to his knees beside the sofa and met my eyes.

“You good?” he asked with a playful laugh.

I smiled at him, and his smile turned into a grin. He was so boyishly handsome, with his brown eyes sparkling and those adorable dimples popping out.

When I sat up, Deke claimed the spot next to me. He tugged on my hand and pulled me toward him. I bit a smile as I climbed onto his lap, then settled myself on top of his sated dick.

Wrapping my arms around the back of his neck, I leaned forward and kissed him. He groaned behind the kiss, palming me in his hands. I felt him spasm beneath me.

“You trying to get me hard again?” he mumbled on my mouth.

“Maybe,” I returned with a coy smile, and he laughed, spanking me. After another deep kiss, I sighed. “Let me find my panties.”

I climbed off his lap, but it was when I stood in front of him that Deke caught my hand and stopped me, before I could move away.

I looked down at him as he leaned forward, with his face so close to my sex I could feel his breath running between my thighs. With ease, he gripped one of my legs and propped my foot on the sofa cushion, leaving me spread wide open.

I suppose he hadn’t completely gotten his fill, because he looked up at me, held my waist, and buried his tongue in my pussy.

I gasped, my knees buckling, but he kept me steady with one hand at my hip and the other clutching the outer thigh of my propped-up leg.

“Deke,” I moaned. “You’re just ... you’re too much.”

A throaty laugh vibrated through him, and to show me just how much he was, he took my hand and placed the palm of it on the back of his head. That action alone sent a spiral of pleasure through me. He was telling me to own him, to control him, that he was mine to use and that I could do whatever I wanted to him.

I skimmed my fingers down the coarse hair at the nape of his neck and brought them back up again to rest my hand on the back of his head. I pushed his face in deeper, moaning as I looked down the soft, curvy hills of my body to lock eyes with him. Just like I had on the rooftop cabana, I held his head, but this time I wanted to ride his face, so I rocked my hips.

His tongue slid from my clit to just around my entrance, and when he picked up on what I was doing, he repeated that same motion over and over again until I threw my head back and cried out with pleasure. It felt so good, so bad, so fucking delicious.

When Deke pulled his mouth away, I staggered backward and attempted to catch my breath. He rested his back against the sofa again, spreading his legs apart as he swiped the pad of his thumb over his glistening bottom lip.

“I swear I love watching you come, D,” he said, giving me a mildly arrogant grin.

I huffed a laugh, and because I couldn’t help myself, I straddled his lap and kissed him. With thick, heavy breaths, he kissed the hollow of my throat and the crook of my neck and then gripped my face in one of his large hands to press his hot mouth to mine.

He coaxed my lips apart so our tongues collided, then gave my ass a squeeze. I sighed in ecstasy, feeling him grow hard again.

It was that night when I realized I’d hit the hookup jackpot.

Not only was Deke exceptional in his career; he was an incredibly gifted fuck-buddy too.

I could live with that.