Page 5 of Dreaming

There was only one way he was in her bed.

As the thought registered, as she understood that her own sister had set this in motion like the petulant child she was, Nia tried to figure out how to handle it.

Admittedly, her unexpected guest made thinking difficult. The way he smelled, the words he said, the tone of his voice, and how big she could tell he was made her thoughts scramble, her body clench, and her heart race.

He was not a selfish lover.

Once that epiphany slammed through her brain, she found it harder and harder to say, “I’m not Nicki. I’m sorry.”

For the first time in her life, she envied her sister. The man playing over her body, delivering pleasure – with actual joy in the doing – was considerate and oh-so-generous.

She didn’t know his name or anything else about him, but she knew that if he was able to be generous with someone like Nicki – who was downright rude on her best day – then it was likely just part of who he was.

He made her come.

More importantly, he made her come without Nia having to get involved. She always had to get involved, had to push herself over. Sometimes, she didn’t even get the chance before a man took what he wanted and went to sleep.

At thirty-five, she’d laid down with nine men in her life. None of them had shown the stranger’s attention to her body, the patience with her uncertainty, and the obvious happiness with her pleasure.

Even after she married one of them.

A stranger had pulled four orgasms from her without Nia having to do a single thing to help.

Just…gave her four, took one, tucked her in, and left.

To the ceiling of her bedroom, she murmured, “He was even careful with my hair…”

He’d been gone for about twenty minutes when her eyes widened and her heart slammed painfully in her chest.

Oh, no.

Her whole body still trembling with aftershocks, she threw back her blankets and quickly pulled on shorts and a t-shirt. Then she walked across the house to Nicki’s bedroom.

Without knocking, she opened the door so hard that it bounced off the wall behind it.

The room was filled with smoke. She couldn’t see the floor from all the clothes on it and Nicki was entertaining.

Her sister yelled, “Nia! What the fuck?”

Walking straight to the bed, Nia spotted her sister’s phone, picked it up, and turned to leave.

“Give me back my phone, Nia! You fucking bitch!”

Pointing at her, she answered, “Shut your mouth, you spoiled brat. I pay for your phone, your car, this house, and the food you put in your mouth. I’ve let you get away with a lot of shit over the years. This time, you went too far.”

Nia met the eyes of the man still pumping his hips between her sister’s legs as if another person wasn’t in the room. He was clearly high, as was Nicki, and covered in tattoos she recognized.

“Don’t let us interrupt. You shouldn’t even be here, scrub.”

Then she left, slamming the door behind her. Back in her own room, she turned on the lamp and pulled up Nicki’s text history with her heart pounding.

Reading the last one she’d sent to a man she listed as Big D, Nia thought her brain would explode from anger.

She knew exactly what the reaction would have been on the other side. The same one her father or older brother would have had.

Complete, debilitating fear followed by shame.

Judging by the text history, they’d been hooking up a couple of times a week for less than a month. She went to his contact and read the notes Nicki always added so she could tell her various men apart.

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