One Taste (14 page)

T
wo weeks later, Onika Brandt, now holy and sanctified, stood up to give a testimonial during a special celebration for the men and women who had successfully completed a week or more of sobriety. Her brush with death, she recounted, had turned her life around. Onika’s testimonial soon turned into a full-fledged praise service.

Onika spoke with passion of her nightmarish encounter with an alleged unknown assailant. “I was a sinner. Chasing after drugs, I turned my back on my heavenly Father and ran smack into the arms of Satan,” she said, mimicking the posture and vocal quality of an evangelical minister. “But the devil didn’t win!” Onika shouted. “Oh no,” she said, shaking her head dramatically. Lowering her tone, she continued, tears streaming down her cheeks, “I turned my back on the Lord, but I’m standing here today because the Lord didn’t turn his back on me.”

Thundering applause amidst a chorus of “Amen” and “Thank you, Jesus,” erupted inside the small room where the recovering addicts took turns recounting the experiences that had made them hit rock bottom and finally seek help.

After Onika’s testimonial, Cochise pulled her aside to speak to her privately.

“Glad to see you’re getting yourself together.”

“Thanks,” she said, licking nervously at her scarred lips.

“Me and you never got along, but there was never any real beef between us, right?”

“Right,” she murmured cautiously.

“Good, just trying to make sure we’re cool and everything.”

Onika nodded. Cochise could tell that his sudden show of friendship made her uneasy.

“So…um, I guess you heard about Mr. Wheeler.”

“Yeah, it’s a shame the way things went down.” She lowered her eyes and ran a nervous hand through her hair.

Cochise gave Onika a long, knowing look. “Oh, so you’re not going to say anything? You’re just gonna sit back and let the man take that fall?”

“I don’t know what—”

“You know what I’m talking about. I guess turning your life around, being all holy and sanctified, is just a front.” His harsh tone and expression challenged her.

Onika backed up a little. “I ain’t have nothing to do with—”

“Right now, you’re like a celebrity around here, but when I tell everybody about your role in bringing an innocent man down…” Cochise shook his head ominously. “You think they still gonna be singing your praises when they find out you’re covering up for a drug dealer?”

Onika looked pained. Her body sagged. “You don’t understand. If I give him up, him and his peoples gon’ come after me. The next time that nut pulls a knife out, he’s gon’ be using the sharp end…poking a bunch of holes in my ass.”

“You know you’re safe here. We’re not gonna let nobody harm you.”

“But I’m scared,” she whined.

“The program will stand behind you and you know it. You
need to give the police some information. Mr. Wheeler is facing hard time and you know that’s not right. If you love the Lord the way you claim to, you’ll do what’s right.” He patted Onika on the shoulder, then turned around and told all his friends goodnight.

Cochise was now an employee of the Recovery House. He no longer resided there. Regina had inherited Matt’s debts and was required to pay the rent on the apartment for the duration of the one-year lease as well as make payments on the furniture her husband had purchased with their joint credit card, so at Regina’s request, Cochise moved into Onika’s former apartment in Chester. Conducting their love affair on neutral turf instead of Regina’s and Matt’s home seemed the most respectful thing to do.

All the fight was gone. Having been behind bars for almost three weeks, Matthew Wheeler was no longer hostile and combative toward his wife. Looking into her husband’s eyes, Regina saw only remorse and shame.

“I’ going to use the house as collateral to pay your bail, but I think we should discuss selling the property.”

“Why do you want to sell it?”

“Sad memories. It’s time to move forward,” she said solemnly. “But on the bright side, I’ve found an attorney, a very expensive attorney. I’m using half the money from the sale of the house to pay his fee. I think it’s fair that you and I split the rest of the money.”

Matt lowered his head and nodded. “I’m so sorry, Regina.”

“I know you are.” Regina pondered briefly. “Matt,” she said softly.

Matt looked up.

“Onika Brandt has agreed to come forward; she’s going to testify at your trial. Her testimony is critical to your release.”

“You spoke with Onika?” Matt looked dumbfounded that his wife would willingly have a civil conversation with his ex-mistress.

“No, not directly. Langston Belgrave—Cochise—convinced her to come forward.”

“How do you know Cochise?” There was an undercurrent of jealousy in Matt’s tone. His apologetic expression disappeared.

Regina saw no reason to tell Matt the whole story, so she told him as much as she wanted him to know. “He helped me move your equipment. Without his assistance, I don’t know what I would have done.” Regina paused, breathed in deeply. “Cochise is really ambitious and has a strong desire to run his own commercial cleaning business. He was able to form a partnership with the Recovery House. He got a small business loan, and because I needed cash to pay the attorney’s retainer, I sold him the equipment. Somewhere along the way, Cochise and I became involved.”

Matthew gripped his head in agony. “How could you do this to me, Regina? Cochise is too young for you and he’s one of my—”

Regina abruptly rose to leave. “I didn’t come here to argue, Matt. I can’t understand how you have the nerve to feel slighted. If Cochise is too young for me, why was twenty-year-old Onika just the right age for you?”

Matt didn’t flinch, demonstrating his belief in a double standard. “That man worked for me. I didn’t disrespect you by cheating on you with one of your friends.” Matt laughed bitterly and shook his head. “Cochise! Who would have thought that lowlife alcoholic could steal my wife and my business?”

“He’s a recovering alcoholic,” Regina said, defending Cochise.
“You told me they were
recovering
addicts when you hired them to work for you,” she reminded Matt. “Let me remind you of something else. It was your infidelity that caused you to lose your wife and your business.” She sighed and looked deeply into his eyes, wanting the severity of her words to penetrate. She was also curious to see if she felt some vestige of the love she’d once felt. But there was nothing. No lost love to salvage or recapture. “It’s over between us, Matt. Accept it.”

I
nside Cochise’s apartment, Regina prepared dinner wearing a sheer gown. She listened to slow jams as she sliced and diced an array of colorful ingredients. The table was set to create an ambience of elegance and romance with lighted candles and a centerpiece of delicate cut flowers. At the stove, Regina heated extra-virgin olive oil in a sauté pan, adding crushed garlic, onions, and red peppers.

Cochise arrived home to the appetizing aroma, but the moment he saw Regina, he felt the jolt of a different type of desire. Stirring ingredients, she turned around and greeted her man with a smile. Cochise walked up behind her and kissed the back of her neck, inhaling her scent. He reached over and turned off the burner. “Dinner smells good, but you smell better.” He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

Regina didn’t resist. Dinner could definitely wait. Tonight was the night that Cochise would possess her. Tonight she intended to allow Cochise to fill her with all his thirteen inches.

Cochise slipped off the straps of Regina’s gown and peeled it off; the soft fabric fluttered down to the floor. “You’re beautiful, baby,” he said while hungrily gazing at her naked, curvaceous form.

From her prone position on the bed, Regina watched Cochise
strip out of his shirt. Seeing him bare-chested with his rippling muscles exposed was so tantalizing, Regina had to restrain herself from leaping up and worshipfully caressing each isolated muscle.

When he slid down his jeans and stepped out of them, Regina took in a sharp breath. She watched as Cochise hooked his thumbs under the waistband of his boxers and pulled them down. The beauty of his physique took her breath away. Her body tensed, her mouth watered at the sight of his enormous phallus. His face, his body, his dick…gorgeous! Way too much eye candy, the sugar rush made her head spin.

He straddled her, lowered his head, and kissed her. His lips felt soft against her own. Regina parted her lips, inviting him to plunge his tongue inside and explore her mouth. Tasting each other was incredibly sensual, Regina moaned and Cochise made a small groaning sound in the back of his throat.

Abruptly he pulled his mouth away and covered her breasts with his lips. Murmuring husky sounds of pleasure, Cochise moved down and squeezed her luscious orbs together, teasing her twin peaks with his tongue, sending the hardened pearls hot sensations that quickly traveled down to the core of her womanhood. Arching her back and twisting with raw desire, Regina cried out. Her sounds of passion blended with the music that played in the background.

On cue, Cochise abandoned her breasts and moved to the bottom of the bed where he repositioned Regina, pulling her clenched thighs apart, spreading them wide and drawing up her knees. With her labia separated, her pinkness on display, Cochise dipped his head. “You gotta pretty pussy,” he whispered, his hot breath tingling against her moist, rose-colored flesh. He inserted a spiraling finger. When her juices began to flow, he cupped her round behind and lifted it until her hot moisture met his lips.

Enraptured by the smell of Regina’s feminine scent, Cochise pushed his tongue inside, taking in her flavor, a tasty combination of tangy and sweet. He grazed her clit with his teeth and then proceeded to lick, suck, and eat her as if he were a starving man and her pussy, a scrumptious entrée.

As good as Cochise was making her feel, Regina pulled back. She didn’t want to reach an orgasm with oral sex. “Stop,” she whispered urgently. “I’m ready, Cochise.”

By the look of Cochise’s erect penis, the head glistening with pre-cum arousal, Regina knew it would be easy to convince her lover to penetrate her deeply, to give her every inch of his length.

He gave her the smooth slippery head of his dick and then slowly pulled it out. He looked down at her questioningly. “More,” Regina uttered. But instead of penetrating, Cochise held his dick in his hand and slid it up and down her silky, warm entrance. Regina arched again and opened her legs wider, crying out, pleading for more. He penetrated again, this time pushing in deeper, looking at her intently and gauging her expression as he pulled out his steely rod. Her eyes demanded more. Easing in his thickness past the halfway point, Cochise stopped when he felt her tightness close around him. Concerned, he looked down at her, gauging her expression to estimate her ability to take more. Beads of perspiration trickled down Regina’s face.

“You okay, baby?” Cochise asked.

“Yes.” The word was spoken in a blissful whisper.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I need you.” Regina’s voice was low and throaty. She raised her hips, demanding his sex.

Unable to resist her command, he drove his pulsing male blade halfway and then stopped. “Are you all right?”

Panting, she nodded.

His breathing ragged, and his skin damp with sweat, Cochise gave Regina slow pumps at first. Then surrendered to the pain of his aching hardness, he plunged deeper, widely separating her silky folds as he burrowed himself into her warmth..

Regina screamed as she met his thrusts, the sound was a combination of pleasure and pain. Soon, Cochise could feel her walls expanding. Her hips rotated in acceptance. His huge erection slid in without resistance, as their hungry bodies ground against each other.

She had all thirteen inches of her man’s thick length planted deeply, and the feeling of his hot flesh threatened to drive her over the edge. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer as she gave in to the building waves of ecstasy that crested within.

Cochise’s breathing quickened as he felt Regina’s clenching spasms. Abandoning himself to the pleasure he’d denied himself for so long, he thrust in and out, unafraid of showing his emotions as he moaned her name. Cochise gave a harsh groan of masculine surrender as he released his hot seed. Bringing his lips close to Regina’s ears, he whispered, “I know it’s too soon to be talkin’ like this, but I can’t help it. I’m in love. Can we take this to the next level?”

Regina clung to him and buried her head against his massive shoulder. For far too long, she’d gone without passion and love. Silently, she vowed to never take him for granted; she’d cherish the love he offered forever.

“I love you, too,” she whispered, feeling completely safe in letting him know how she felt.

“Baby,” Cochise murmured. “I can’t believe you were able to
handle my size like that. I thought it would take a couple of months to stretch you out.”

“I’m shocked, too. But you know what they say…Love conquers all.” Regina suppressed a smile. One day she’d tell her big, gorgeous man the real story. Impatient to feel every inch of his sex, she’d sped up the stretching process by purchasing a giant-sized, sex toy.

It was money well spent, but her new gizmo and her other fake dick were both going straight into the dumpster. She reached over and stroked Cochise’s flesh. His thirteen inches quickly rose to the occasion, confirming that Regina would never again have to rely on battery-operated sex.