Page 59 of Devanté
“So, then I definitely shouldn’t put my hand around your throat and bite your lips like this.” My eyes fell shut when he grabbed me. He knew the perfect balance between hard and soft. I swallowed against his palm while I tasted his probing tongue.
“Mmm-mmm,” I mumbled against his mouth. He owned me with every kiss and he always left me wanting more but I did not want Devin to hear the way Devanté made me sound. The way he filled me up and made me overflow.
When he pulled back, his eyes searched mine. “What’s mmm-mmm?” He asked before nipping at my jawline and nudging my legs apart with his knee. He was a wall of heat and I wanted to melt all over him…all around him. “You don’t like the way this feels, Blake?”
“You know I do,” I said, pressing my hand against his muscled chest. “But…”
“But what? The asshole out there who hurt you? You’re worried about his feelings? Fuck him.”
“I don’t want any drama. That’s all. If it escalates and the police are called it looks bad for you, Devanté. You’ve never had a scandal or a single bad news story. You’re everyone’s golden boy. The world’s sweetheart. I don’t want your first strike to be because of me.”
Devanté smiled a little then leaned against the door casually. His muscle-corded arms flexed when he folded them across his chest. Had it always been this easy for him to look like he was posing for a magazine?
I looked up at him, blinking to make sure he was real and not a finely crafted figment of my imagination. Even though being around him again felt like no time had passed…time did pass. This Devanté was even more effortless than before. He was the sea. Grand and hypnotizing without any effort. All he had to do was stand there and everyone would willingly drown themselves to even get a glimpse.
“You think I give a fuck about my image? At this point, everything I do from here on out is gravy. I’ve put in my work as a model. I’ve done all the fashion weeks multiple times. I’ve done GQ, Vogue Man, W, and any other magazine you can think of. I’ve already done all the fashion houses and been a muse for most of them.
I’ve given to charities and build schools in impoverished countries. I’ve helped get clean water to villages in Namibia and donated money to women and girls who didn’t have proper hygiene supplies in India.
I don’t give a fuck about getting the police called on me. At this point, it can only boost my image. It’ll give me an edge. You should know that, Miss Creative Marketing Director.” He touched my chin and said, “So please give me a reason to go out there and punch that motherfucker in the face.”
“Damn…” I said more to myself than to him. “You’re a fucking beast, Devanté.”
“I know,” he smirked. The thought of this man in front of me conquering the world while still being the boy I knew in third grade was sexy as hell. I reached up and grabbed the neck of his t-shirt, pulling him close to me. I wanted to taste him again.
I wanted to taste his ambition and drive. They matched mine so perfectly it was hard to distinguish between them. That was what I’d always envisioned having in a man. Someone who wanted to take over the world and push it to a better place.
Knowing that Devanté’s heart was still just as big and soft as it was years ago and fame hadn’t changed him. The throngs of women throwing themselves at his feet hadn’t shifted his core…it was staggering.
It made me fall harder for him.
I broke our kiss and slid my fingertip along his granite-crafted jawline down to his throat, skating over his Adam’s apple. This man still wanted me. He still loved me. He’d always been in my corner and I neglected even the slightest thought of him for eight damn years.
“I’m sorry I let so much time get away from us,” I said softly, studying the bright emotions in his eyes.
“Me too, Blake. If we stayed friends, I would have never let you get close to Devin.” He shook his head then rested his lips between my brows like he could kiss away eight years of frowns that settled there while we were apart.
“Sometimes,” I said, stroking his muscled forearms. “Women need to deal with men who suck the life from their veins before they can appreciate the good ones.” I pressed my finger into his hard, sculpted chest. “You’re one of the good ones. You always have been.” A smile lifted his handsome face. It was true and unpretentious.
“Thank you.” He picked my hand up and kissed the back of it. Feeling his lips on me for even a second warmed the corridors of my chest, wrapping around my thumping heart. “Blake, I’m sorry too.”
“For what?” My forehead creased with a frown. The music playing in the background switched from Babyface to Jodeci.I’m Still Waitinghummed through the air like a slow pulse. K-Ci’s voice was rough and full of soul. It tugged at something dense in my core. Judging by the intense look in Devanté’s eyes, it tugged at the same thing in him.
“For not fighting hard enough for our friendship. For not reaching out to you after things settled down. I mean, I tried but…”
“That wasn’t your fault. I blocked you around every corner, Devanté.”
“I feel like I could have worked harder. I thought about you every day.” His knuckles skimmed my cheekbones. “You have no idea how often you’ve lived in my mind. In my dreams.” He kissed the palm of my hand. Honeyed tingles stretched across my skin.
The air was thick with unspoken words and declarations. They dripped from the fraying seams barely holding me together. They spilled on my toes and soaked into the gray carpet beneath my feet.
I wanted Devanté but I didn’t know if now was the time or place to say it. I didn’t know if I was far enough removed from Devin. I didn’t know if Devanté was in a space where he wanted a relationship.
The silent uncertainties pushed me away from the bedroom door and over to the freshly made bed. The smell of laundry detergent wafted up from the duvet when I flopped down. I flared my nostrils to suck in more of the fresh scent.
“You’ve lived in mine too but I hate that I mistakenly made you the villain of every movie I played in my mind since college.”
“But did I still look good?” He quirked an eyebrow up and smirked at me. He was too damn much. The corners of my mouth twitched with a laugh. “I feel like I’d make a fly ass villain. I mean, look at all this drip.” He touched his thickening beard, smiled, then sat beside me and tossed his strong arm around my shoulders. It felt like we were kids again in my backyard sitting on the rainbow playset with our legs swinging off the edge.
