Beingin love wasn’t new to me, but being loved was a new experience. One that I took for granted in the past. The men that I loved were only in lust and only wanted someone whom they could control. My desire to fix someone or save someone only caused me to become the drowning victim in the end.
Classes should be taught about what true love felt and looked like. Some of us had the concept twisted. It was bizarre how I had grown up in a home with two loving parents and an older brother and sister, who were fourteen and twelve years older than me and who were in loving marriages, yet I seemed to have missed the whole concept of love and being healed.
Alternatively, Salem grew up in a single-parent home where he and his mother struggled and did what was necessary tosurvive, yet he was full of love and knew how to give and receive it. The night that Salem made love to me, he took care of my body and my soul. I entrusted my heart to his care, and he had been good with it.
I had gone to him every night since then. It didn’t matter if I had an early morning class or not; the nights would find me in Salem’s bed. But during the day, we avoided each other like the plague.
That was why Thursday afternoon, I was so surprised to see him in my classroom when class was over. I was grabbing my bags and preparing to leave when I heard his voice.
“Hey, beautiful. You’re done for the day, right?” he asked.
Salem sat in the back row, in the last seat. His long legs were sprawled out in front of him, and his arms were casually draped over the backs of the chairs on either side of him.
“Hey! You scared me,” I replied, startled by his appearance.
“Didn’t mean to.”
I took a seat in front of him. “How long have you been here?”
“Since the start of class.”
“I didn’t see you.”
“You’ve been on that computer the entire time.”
“That’s because they were testing today. If you keep popping up and sitting in here like this, someone’s going to get suspicious.”
“Students drop in on certain classes around here all the time. I’m sure they didn’t think too much about it. I busied myself like I was working on something.”
“I’m not talking about the students. I’m talking about the cameras,” I replied with a slight nod in two directions.
“We’re not in their line of sight. This corner of the room is in a safe space.”
“Mm, you’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?” I asked with a smile.
“Always got a plan, baby girl. You’re not holding business hours today, are you?”
I usually did not hold them on Thursdays, and only two Fridays of the month.
“No, I’m done for the day. I was heading home to relax for a while before coming to you.”
Salem reached out his hand and cupped my chin and slid his hand up to caress my face. I pressed into it, and my heart lurched. All I wanted to do was be held in his arms.
“How about you come to my place now? You can relax over there, baby.”
“Okay, but I’ll drive there separately. I don’t want anyone, . . . well, you know.”
He nodded. “You got it, ma. I’ll see you in about twenty?”
“Uhm, can we make it an hour?”
Salem leaned forward. “It’s gon’ cost ya.” He cupped the back of my head and covered my lips with his. The kiss was sweet and slow, but it slowly heated up as he slid his tongue into my mouth. He sucked on mine, and I melted against him. When he pulled back, Salem rested his forehead against mine.
“Cost me what?”
“You gotta sit that pretty pussy on this beard until I tap out.”
I smirked and nodded before I replied. “We’re being too careless, Salem.”