A Fight For Love (BWWM Interracial Romance) (4 page)

The next thing she saw was Leon’s penthouse at the Royale. She looked around and there was Leon, right in front of her.

“What am I doing here?” she asked him.

“
I don’t know. You tell me. This is your dream after all,” Leon said. “Why are you here Dee? Did you maybe have a change of heart?” he smirked. She shook her head and shrugged before she turned away from him.

“
I need to get out of here,” she said as she looked around.

“
Really Dee? Because I think you are here because, deep down, you still have feelings for me. Because every so often you wake up wishing things had been different with us,” he said as he walked towards her. By this time, she could feel his breath on her neck. “I know that you miss me as much as I miss you, babe,” he said in a low voice. She turned around and looked at him.

“
I do, Leon but you lied to me. You destroyed the single most important thing for us, our trust,” she said as she looked into his eyes.

“
I know and I am willing to turn over a new leaf, babe. I am willing to make that change,” he said.

“
But you are married. And I have Taylor…and your kids,” she said.

“
Why don’t you see it, Dee? I am willing to let everything go just for you,” he said. “I am doing all of this for you,” he said in a low voice as he brought his face down, closer to her. He held the back of her neck and kissed her deeply. She moaned softly as she felt herself responding to him, her lips parted, allowing for her tongue and his to touch slightly. She hated it but the truth was that she was responding to him, a little more positively than she had hoped. She moaned softly when she felt his hand on her waist, pulling her closer to him. She put her own hand on his chest and she could have sworn it was like déjà vu. His soft stomach, the way it felt under her hand. She gasped when he suddenly lifted her up and walked them to the bedroom. When he softly laid her on the bed, she looked up at him and moaned as he caressed her slowly. “Do you have any idea how much I have missed you? How much I’ve missed this?” he asked as he brought his face down to kiss her softly. “I want to make love to you,” he said in a whisper as he kissed her. He suddenly pulled on the two opposite sides of her top and ripped it apart like a wild beast. He looked at her beautiful inviting tits and buried his face in her chest, kissing and licking softly. He pulled her bra down and began sucking on her nipples making her moan loudly as she squirmed on the bed. She was still squirming when she opened her eyes and saw Taylor looking down at her. That was when she woke up with a sudden jolt, gasping and panting.

“
Hey….hey… Dee it’s just me,” Taylor said as he looked at her. “Just me Dee, relax. You were dreaming,” he said as he sat on the bed and held her. He pulled away and looked at her. “You’re okay, I’m right here,” he said as he looked at her.

“
I’m sorry,” Desiree suddenly said.

“
What for? You have nothing to be sorry for. I am the one who should be apologizing for startling you,” he said.

“
What’s the time?” she asked.

“
A little after seven,” he said. “Ready to go?” he asked as he looked at her.

“
Yeah, let me just get some stuff form the closet,” she said as she got out of bed. She felt her cheeks flush when she felt wetness in her crotch.
“Get it together, Desiree. Get it the fuck together,”
she scolded herself as she walked towards her closet. She took a pre-packed overnight bag and then stuffed some clean underwear in the side pocket. She then took a jacket and turned around as she put it on. “Ready,” she said in a low voice. Taylor smiled and took the bag from her as they walked out.

It had almost been a week since Desiree had her encounter with Leon and even though she had decided to be honest with Taylor about him kissing her, she had, most definitely, kept a lid on the sex dream. The last thing she needed was him being any weirder than he already was. She was already scared that he was taking the whole thing a little too seriously. As far as Desiree was concerned, he had actually become a bit withdrawn. Even though they spent time together, things were different and she wished more than anything that she could take the three minutes back, the three minutes it had taken for her to tell him what happened in Leon’s penthouse. In the few days that had passed, Desiree and Taylor had not had any sexual encounter and, as far as she was concerned, there was little prospect, the way things were going, of them sharing much intimacy.

At first, the lack of intimacy had been because she was still so sore from the jackhammer sex Taylor had ever so lovingly delivered, but also because it had been a crazy week for her. This was the one weekend that every retail store hated and loved at the same time. It was Black Friday and one thing Desiree knew was that even though there were going to be enormous commissions at the end of the day, there was hell to pay before you began to glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel.

To make it worse, Desiree had made a mistake in orders and, instead of the usual fifty crock pots that the store ordered, they had gotten ten times more crock pots than they needed and now she had to come up with a plan to save her ass. And the plan had worked. As she sat there looking at the other store employees, she could not have been more elated. As she looked at her team members in the small, workmanlike office, she smiled. “We did it guys,” Desiree said smiling proudly. “And we did it three days before Black Friday, so, a big up to everyone. Keep this up and maybe we can have a proper, if belated, Thanksgiving,” she added as people left her office. She felt really bad that the store workmates had to miss Thanksgiving, and, as was store’s custom, they always took one day off to make up for the holiday and even though it was never as good as a ‘true’ Thanksgiving, she was still grateful for it. For that reason, her family always had a surrogate one a week later, a tradition that they had come to love. In addition to all that, it was Desiree’s birthday and she had planned a small party for her. She had, of course, got Tony to blindside her sister so that they got some time to get everything started.

At the end of her shift, she took a cab to Cynthia’s café to pick up the cake. By the time she got there, Cynthia was already done for the day, and trying to balance her books.

“
Hey, Dee. Almost done here and then we can head out,” Cynthia said as she put containers of food in paper bags.

“
What did you get?” Desiree asked.

“
Well, as we know, Rochelle is a big fan of Chinese food so I thought we could do fried rice and sweet and sour chicken. Tony said he would be bringing the wine. So we are set here,” Cynthia said as one of the café workers brought out the cake. “And for the dessert, her favorite, red velvet,” Cynthia said as Desiree stepped forward to close up the box.

“
Damn, woman, I just want to take a nice big scoop of frosting right now,” Desiree said as she inhaled the rich aroma of the cake.

“
I know, but we must control ourselves,” Cynthia said as she picked the bags up. “We’re done here. Let’s go,” she said as they began walking out of the café. They hailed a cab and made their way to the apartment. When they got home, they set the table and sat down to some coffee as they waited for the guys. “So, I am not one to gossip but you know your sister and it’s not like I can shut out a juicy story. God knows I need some excitement in my life,” Cynthia said as they sipped on their coffee.

“
What do you mean excitement? I thought things were going on well with the new guy,” Desiree said.

“
It’s a good thing you don’t know his name. He was not staying long in my life anyway,” Cynthia said.

“
I’m sorry?” Desiree asked confused.

“
He enlisted and…I can’t…I can’t go through that again. I’m done with soldiers,” Cynthia said. Desiree gave her a sad smile and took her hand in hers.

“
I’m so sorry, cuz. I wish there was something I could do,” she said. Cynthia shook her head.

“
I think that at this point, I am done with men, they’re all liars and bastards and the world would be better off without them and their selfish desires” she said bitterly.

“
That’s what I used to say before I met Ericson, remember?” Desiree said.

“
Well, men are there, but there are not so many good ones left,” Cynthia said before taking another sip of her coffee.

“
If there is one thing I am sure of, it is that you, Cynthia Monroe, are a beautiful and strong woman. There is a man out there for you. A man that will see you for the proud Nubian sister you are and he will love you. I am certain of it,” Desiree said as she looked into her cousin’s mournful eyes.

“
Yeah, yeah. Enough about me. I want to hear about you and that stolen moment of illicit passion with Leon,” Cynthia said smiling gleefully.

“
Of course she told you that. But there is nothing more to tell,” Desiree said.

“
Oh come on, there has to be more. Was it that kind of touch- and- go kiss or was it one of those where you want to pull away but for some reason you just can’t?” Cynthia asked. Desiree looked awkward for a moment, why was everyone so interested in her love-life? She wondered.

“
I don’t know, Cynthia. I guess it took me a second to piece together everything that was going on,” she said.

“
Wow girl, that’s tight! And what now? What’s going to happen?” Cynthia asked.

“
Well, when push comes to shove you know you have to do something. I had to get a restraining order otherwise he would have just stalked me right up to my grave, maybe even beyond” she shuddered.

“
That serious huh?” Cynthia asked. Desiree rolled her eyes and nodded.

“
Oh yeah. We had some good times but at least I knew when to let go ,but him? It’s a whole new degree of crazy,” she said.

“
Yeah, he told me of the divorce and I thought he was kidding at the time,” Cynthia said. Desiree looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“
Wait, he told you of the divorce? When? Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.

“
He came to me trying to get me to talk to you and he said he had filed for divorce. And he wanted me to tell you too, but I thought that it was just one of his ploys to try and win you back. I just told him to stick it up his flabby country ass and get out. I didn’t want to upset you. It happened at around the same time Mark propositioned you,” Cynthia explained. Desiree shrugged.

“
Guess it’s for the best. I have never had a man come after me like this. I hate to say this but this is too damn creepy,” she said. “And to think I once loved the scumbag,” she added as she shook her head. Just then, she heard her phone buzzing. She looked at the screen and sighed. “It’s Tony. They are fifteen minutes away,” she said. Cynthia smiled and got up.

“
Guess we better hustle then,” she said as she carried the two mugs to the kitchen. Desiree followed her to the kitchen and put on an apron as Cynthia emptied the food into saucepans. The whole point of the day was to trick Rochelle that they had been cooking all day. Not that they were not good cooks but Rochelle lived her life like a Kardashian. She had some kind of self-entitlement that her birthdays had to be super special. Given her own way, she would have had a twenty thousand dollar party just because she could do it. And, true to his word, Tony walked in after fifteen minutes. He was with Rochelle and another man who he introduced as Pete, his old college roommate. Desiree raised her eyebrow when she heard the man speak. He had a clear, precise and beautiful Liverpool accent.

“
You are truly a man of your word as far as time is concerned,” Cynthia said. Tony shrugged.

“
Yes, I am,” he said as he handed a bottle of wine to Cynthia.

“
Pinot Grande. You have just earned yourself another point in my debit column,” she said as she looked at the bottle in her hands.

“
You know how I do, missy,” he said as he walked towards the living room.

“
Nice to see you, cuz. And welcome to your birthday dinner,” Cynthia said as she hugged Rochelle.

“
I smell chicken, really sweet smelling chicken too,” Rochelle said smiling.

“
Sweet and sour. We used Taylor’s recipe and I hope to God we did him justice,” Desiree said as she came to hug her sister.

“
So, we are we still waiting on Taylor?” Cynthia asked as she looked at Desiree, who undid the knot that held her apron together.

“
You guys have a seat. I’ll call him and check his ATA” she said, unconsciously lapsing into military acronyms, as she took her phone out of her pants back pocket. She looked at the four in the living room and smiled when she noticed Cynthia was already cozying up to Pete. The phone rang but Taylor never answered it. She decided to leave a message for him instead. “Hey Ericson, everyone is already here. You are the only one missing in action. Call me when you get this…or better yet, just come on over. The food’s getting cold,” she said before hanging up. She then walked over to where everyone was and looked around. She took a long deep breath and then walked to her bedroom. She somehow felt like a fifth wheel, literally, sitting there all by herself. She had slept in the less intimate surroundings of the living room since she had her crazy sex dream with Leon. She took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the bed just as her phone began ringing. She looked at it and smiled.

“
Ericson,” she said sighing. “I called you. You didn’t pick up,” she said.

“
I know but I’m a few minutes away. Just a couple of blocks,” Taylor said. “You guys go on and start. I’ll be there in ten,” he said.

“
Okay. See you when you get here then,” she said hanging up. She walked out of her bedroom and found a happy lot in the living room. She wanted to walk over to Cynthia and give her the news, but she seemed a bit too engaged with Pete. “Alright guys,” she said as she leaned against the kitchen wall. “Ericson is running late and the food is getting cold. We don’t want to keep the birthday girl waiting,” she said as she walked into the kitchen and stood at the table.

“
Are you sure you are okay not waiting for Taylor to get here?” Rochelle asked.

“
I just spoke to him. He is just a few minutes away,” Desiree said smiling.

“
I guess that we better prepare then then,” Tony said as the group walked to the kitchen.

“
You guys are the best,” Rochelle said as Tony pulled her a chair. “And you made this from scratch just for me?” she asked.

“
Well, you are very special to us honey,” Cynthia said as she smiled at Desiree. None of them understood how, and why, Rochelle did not see through their lies. They were literally lying through their teeth. Desiree and Cynthia put the dishes on the table and Pete pulled out chairs for both of them.

“
My, aren’t you the gentleman?” Desiree said as she smiled at Cynthia and her sister.

“
I know right? If I was not already taken I would most probably be with him,” Rochelle said.

“
Hey, it’s bad enough that he is British,” Pete said.

“
That’s one of the things that makes him especially hot,” Desiree said. “By the way, none of you can repeat that to Ericson,” she added in a whisper as if she was trying to hide from someone.

“
Well, that was one of the factors that ensured every girl went after him, and not all this,” Tony said laughing.

“
And I am so glad that was the case because I am sure that most of them would still be after you,” Rochelle said as she looked at Tony. “Are still after you,” she added in a low, but loud enough for everyone at the table to hear, voice. Tony took her hand in his and kissed it fondly.

“
So, Pete. What do you do? Are you heading your own business empire like Tony is?” Desiree asked as she spooned some rice onto her plate.

“
Well chuck, I deffo’ wish I had taken that path but I thought I would do things a bit differently, n’ dat” Pete said.

“
How different?” Cynthia asked looking at him keenly.

“
Silicon Valley,” Pete said. “My father had started this boss, but small, tech firm..” he continued before Tony scoffed.

“
I would hardly call a company that employs over two hundred people small,” Tony said pompously.

“
Well compared to the docks in my fair Liverpool, this one was right small,” Pete said smiling. “So, he needed a bangin’ financial consultant so I did the business, but after a year I broke away and did one to a rival company,” he added.