Sinful Chocolate (13 page)

“Y
ou drugged me?” Charlie asked, chuckling.

Gisella glanced down where Charlie lay between her breasts. “Not exactly,” she hedged. “It was more like a…stimulant.”

“Oh, really?” His eyes twinkled.

“No different than if I'd served you a plate of oysters.”

“I don't know what kind of oysters you eat over in France, but that cake could put Viagra out of business.” He laughed while lazily rolling her puckered nipples between the pads of his fingers.

Gisella smiled as her eyes fluttered closed so she could enjoy the wondrous sensations her man stirred within her. They had made love for most of the night. Both were surprised and pleased by each other's stamina and, judging by what she was feeling rising against her leg, they were far from being done.

“Are you upset?”

“What, for seducing me?” He laughed. “Oh, yeah, I'm
real
mad about that.” He climbed her body and pinned her hands above her head. “I better hold you here so you're not tempted to lure more unsuspecting men here with that dangerous chocolate.” Charlie's eyes lit up. “You wouldn't happen to have a pair of handcuffs lying around, would you? That could be fun.”

Giggling, Gisella tried to buck him off of her. “Well, I had to do something. I was getting tired of taking cold showers.”

“Aww. Do I make you horny, baby?” Charlie asked in his best Austin Powers impression.

She tried to reach a pillow so she could hit him with it, but only succeeded in rocking against him even more. She finally went still when she felt the head of his morning erection against the apex of her sex.

He snickered. “So you
do
know how to behave. Good to know.” He slid his cock back and forth along the top of her clit.

Gisella's eyes glazed with desire.

“You want to know why I resisted making love to you before last night?” he asked.

Their gazes locked.

“Because from the moment I saw you, I knew that you were special, and I wanted to treat you as such. I didn't want just one thing from you. I wanted
everything
.”

A tide of emotion swelled within Gisella. “I want everything, too.” Tears trickled from the corner of her eyes.

Charlie smiled. “I meant what I said last night.”

She blinked up.

“I love you.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips across hers. “I've never said that to any other woman.”

Gisella's vision blurred as her tears became a flood. “I love you, too.”

“Does that mean you'll marry me?”

She nodded vigorously, not having to think twice on her answer.

Charlie's smile stretched as he finally dipped his hips and entered her in one smooth stroke.

Gisella gasped and then wrapped her long limbs around his waist. At the feel of his deep, long and steady strokes, she thrashed her head among the pillows. She didn't know how much more she could take, but there was one thing she knew for sure—heaven indeed existed on earth.

He released her hands, and she quickly glided them around his broad shoulders and then dug her short nails into moist skin. While their bodies rocked, their mouths locked and sealed their souls together.

This wasn't sex.

This was making love.

They wanted this moment in time to last forever, but as their bodies' friction drove them to higher planes, a familiar and powerful sensation tried to rob them of breath.

Feverish, she couldn't understand the words tumbling from his lips. But seconds before her orgasm detonated, Charlie's words were clear.

“IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou.”

With those words ringing in her ears, Gisella came.

 

“I'm glad you're back,” Nicole said, leading the march behind Anna as she entered her apartment. “You need to nip this whole Charlie Masters thing in the bud.”

Anna shook her head. “Believe me. I'm going to have a loooong talk with her.”

Nicole sucked her teeth. “I tried that, but Ms. Thang told me how grown she was and that she made her own decisions. I
told
you Charlie was going to be on her like white on rice. Now didn't I?”

“Sho did,” Emmadonna co-signed.

“Well, she is a consenting adult,” Jade added in her pip-squeak voice.

The three women stopped in the apartment's entryway, turned and looked at Jade as if her middle name was Judas.

“What? I'm just stating a fact.”

Emmadonna settled her hands on her thick hips. “Charlie is a dog. That's a fact, too.”

“Amen,” Anna and Nicole praised.

“Just like it's a fact Em lied when she said she'd slept with him.”

“I never said that,” Emmadonna said.

“You did, too.”

“Ladies,” Nicole interrupted. “Focus.”

Anna turned around and nearly tripped over Sasha. “Hey, baby,” she cooed and then glanced up at the table. “What the hell? Is she starting a floral shop now, too?” she asked, noting the large vase of roses.

“Hmmph. We're probably too late,” Nicole said. “He's had her all to himself for a month. That's more than enough time for him to have the girl whipped.”

“A month,” Anna said. “I've been calling her at least every other day, and she hadn't said a word.”

“Like I said…” Nicole snapped an imaginary whip.

“Since when does Charlie date someone for a month?” Anna said. “He doesn't
do
relationships. Remember?”

Jade shrugged. “Maybe it's serious.”

Again, the three women stared at her.

“What?”

Anna rolled her eyes and walked away. She didn't get far. The sight of dirty dishes and an open bottle of wine left on the dining room table snagged her attention. “What the hell?”

“Hmm. Looks like someone had a hot date last night,” Nicole said.

Anna walked away from her rollaway luggage to check out the living room. Half-empty glasses of wine were left on the coffee table, but it was the lampshade that drew everyone's eye.

“What the…is that what I think it is?” Emmadonna said.

“Interesting place to hang your panties,” Jade snickered.

Anna kicked a pair of male slacks on the floor and then bent to pick up the wallet that was hidden underneath.

“Any bets on who the mystery man is?” Nicole asked.

Anna hadn't realized that she was holding her breath until she flipped open the leather wallet and stared at Charles Masters's driver's license. “I'm going to kill him.”

 

Charlie discovered that Gisella was ticklish. Not just a little, but extremely ticklish—and just about everywhere.

“Stop, stop, stop,” she begged while whacking him over the head with a pillow.

He had no intentions of stopping. He attacked under her arms, her sides and a few times on the soles of her feet. “Who's the best?” he taunted. “Tell me who's the best.”

“No!”

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Gisella's bedroom door rattled on its hinges, instantly ending the lovers' naked horseplay.

“Gisella, I need to talk to you!”

“Anna,” Gisella gasped.

“I guess that means she's back home,” Charlie said.

“Hide! She can't see you.”

“I know Charlie's in there,” Anna said, letting them know she could hear them.

“Yeah, we know he's in there,” Nicole chimed.

Gisella groaned.

“Strange echo,” Charlie said.

“It's the Lonely Hearts girls,” Gisella muttered.

“Whoa. I don't do groups.”

Grabbing a pillow, she whacked him on the head and watched him fall back in a dramatic death scene. “Will you stop playing? We gotta do something.”

“What? She knows I'm in here.” He shrugged and then folded one arm behind his head.

For not taking the situation serious, Gisella gave him one good shove and flipped him over the edge of the bed. He landed with a loud thud and then quickly popped his head up.

Gisella slapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

“When we're married, I won't put up with domestic violence from you.”

“Gisella!”

Bam! Bam! Bam!

“Hide in the bathroom,” she directed, scrambling out of bed and wrapping the top sheet around her body. “Take a shower or something.”

He frowned. “What, are you ashamed of me now?”

Why was he being so difficult? “Please,” she begged.

“Oh, all right.” Charlie struggled to his feet, but when he took two steps he had to grab hold of the bed.

“Are you all right?”

“Just a little dizzy,” he chuckled. “Must have gotten up too fast.” He stood again and walked a crooked line to the bathroom.

She watched him, frowning, until her sister continued to shout her name. “I'm coming,” she snapped and stomped toward the door. When she cracked it open, Anna looked like she was ready to breathe fire. “Yes?”

“What are you doing,” she hissed.

Gisella cocked her head. “Surely, it hasn't been
that
long for you.”

Anna sucked in a breath. “You're making a
big
mistake.” She shoved Gisella and Charlie's clothes through the door. “That man is nothing more than a roaming dog searching for a place to bury his bone.”

Gisella laughed. “Did you come up with that on your own?”

Her sister glared. “Trust me. He'll only break your heart.”

“Why, because he broke yours?” she challenged. At Anna's stricken look, she tried to apologize. “Anna—”

“So he told you?”

“Told her what?” Emmadonna planted her nose into the conversation.

The sisters stared at one another. After a long pause, Anna's voice dropped into a trembling whisper. “That was a long time ago. I thought…we were just friends.”

“It's not important,” Gisella said, matching her sister's tone. “He actually came here last month looking for you. Said something about wanting to apologize—”

“Look, Gisella. What happened or didn't happen between us in college doesn't matter. What matters is his reputation. He doesn't stick around. He never has, and he never will.”

“It's not like that with us.”

Nicole chimed up. “Girl, do you know how many women have thought that?”

“Nicole,” Anna snapped. “This is an A-and-B conversation. Will you please C your way out of it?”

“Let's just talk about this later,” Gisella said.

The shower came on in the bathroom.

Her sister crossed her arms. “I want him out of here.”

“No.”

Anna's brows arched. “What?”

“I pay rent. This is my apartment, too, and I say he stays.”

“Gisella…”

“I love him.” Judging by the pain that stretched across her sister's face, one would have thought Gisella had stabbed her. “And he loves me.”

Anna jabbed a hand onto her hip. “What? He told you that?”

“As a matter of fact, he did. So you might as well get used to seeing him around…because we're getting married.” Before any of them could respond to that, Gisella firmly closed the door in their faces.

 

Charlie stood beneath the shower's steady water flow with his arms braced against the tile. He waited for this latest wave of vertigo to pass. The episodes were happening more often and were frankly scaring the hell out of him.

The test. He needed to take the test.

He shook his head, confused as to what he was doing. How could he possibly be making plans to marry Gisella when he didn't know what the future held?

He was being selfish.

“So what if you are?” the devil on his shoulder asked. “What's wrong with grabbing hold of a little happiness before you kick the bucket?”

The angel on his right refuted that. “You have to tell her the truth.”

“No way, José,” the devil said. “Who wants to deal with all that crying?”

Charlie thought about all the women he'd spent the last month calling, seeking and hoping to give closure to any open-ended issues. How easy it had been to tell
them
he was dying. But the woman he loved? He shook his head.