Authors: Niobia Bryant
Admission of Love (30 page)
The insistent buzzing of the doorbell finally broke through Chloe’s deep sleep. She had a rough night of sleep and was not in the best of moods because of it. She wished she could throw a blanket over the sun, but alas, morning was smiling her in the face, even if she wasn’t smiling back.
Somehow, after her admission last night, she had thought Devon would call and say . . . something, anything. But after she got in from the celebration dinner at Fifty Seven, Fifty Seven with Anika, Liv and Jeffrey, who also captured a few awards for his innovative fashions, the phone hadn’t rung. There had been only an excited message from Nana Lil and Deshawn on the answering machine, but no mention of Devon. She hadn’t returned their call since it was so late when she got in.
The buzzer sounded again.
Probably Anika,
she thought as she climbed out of bed and pulled on the full-length satin robe that matched her sheer nightgown. She left the room to enter the hall.
“Yes, Harrison,” she said, her voice groggy with sleep and agitation as she spoke into the intercom.
“Sorry to bother you Ms. Bolton but the gentleman is rather determined to see you.”
That damned Calvin!
“Please inform Mr. Ingram that if he continues to harass me that I will press charges.”
“Uhm, it’s not Mr. Ingram ma’am.
Confused she leaned her head against the wall. “Then
who
is it, Mr. Harrison?”
“A Devon Jamison.”
Devon? Was here? In New York? Surely Harrison had made a mistake. But then she heard his voice in the background asking, “Is she home?”
Chloe flew out of the apartment and anxiously pushed the button for the elevator, unaware and maybe just uncaring that she was still in her night clothes and her newly cropped do was wildly disarrayed on her head. All she thought of was getting to Devon ASAP.
∞
Devon paced as the doorman attempted again to reach Chloe’s apartment, but he just kept saying, “She won’t answer, sir.”
Was Chloe that angry at him? But how she could be after what she said in her speech last night?
Both he and the doorman turned as the elevator doors opened. She ran at him and Devon took deep breaths as he caught her in his arms. Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck and inhaled deeply of his scent. Devon pressed his face into her neck as well, enjoying having this remarkable woman,
his
woman, in his arms again. They remained in the foyer that way, entwined and just enjoying the feel of each other, for a long time.
Devon looked down into Chloe’s sleeping face. As always, he was amazed by her beauty and her passion. He loved her.
He was curious about seeing this side of Chloe’s life and that’s why he wasn’t sleeping, as she was, after their hour of ardent and passionate loving. Devon got out of bed, careful not to wake her, and pulled his discarded boxers onto his naked frame. With one last loving glimpse at her, he left the bedroom.
Five minutes later he was totally floored! He had known Chloe was wealthy, but he had not imagined just how much wealth she had accumulated during her career. Enough to afford the expensively furnished luxury apartment. Enough to donate all her earnings from her new project to charities. Enough to earn numerous humanitarian awards for her efforts in fundraising in the past. Being in this apartment felt like being in a mini palace to him.
It was so unlike the quiet charm of her house in Holtsville. It was so unlike the Chloe he knew it all. But this was
her
house. Obviously there was a lot about Chloe that he still didn’t know.
“Devon?”
He walked back into the bedroom at her call, and went to sit on the bed next to where she lay. “Yeah, baby?”
Chloe smiled up at him, reaching to caress his square jaw. “I thought I dreamed it all.”
“No baby, it’s for real.” He leaned down to kiss her lips. “I’m sorry for the way I acted that day in your yard.”
“And you should be,” she asserted, giving him a stem look.
“And
you
should have told me weeks ago that you were going to New York and why.” He tapped the tip of her nose with his finger playfully. “It wasn’t my grandmother’s place to tell me, but she did.”
“You should’ve given me a chance to tell you, instead of running home with a stick up your—”
“You shouldn’t have run here to New York.”
“You shouldn’t have assumed I was back with my ex.”
“He shouldn’t have called you.”
“You’re right about that!”
Devon laughed and pulled her up into his arms. “Have I congratulated you on your win last night?”
“No.”
“You know what?”
“What?”
“You should have called me sooner and told me you missed me, instead of telling me
and
millions of television viewers.”
“That’s all it took for you to come here?”
He nodded. “That and Nana Lil explaining to me about your ex and the awards show, like you should have.”
“She’s our own little cupid . . . God bless her!”
“I really missed you, Chloe, and I’m sorry my jealousy led to all of this.”
Chloe kissed him full on the mouth. “And I’m so happy you’re here, Devon.”
He removed his boxers, kicking them off into a pile at the foot of the bed under the covers. With a groan he pulled her naked, curvaceous body to his and nuzzled the warm intimate spot in the hollow of her neck. His tender, warm kisses sent shivers of pleasure through her as she closed her eyes in sweet longing and gave in to his passionate loving.
And lovemaking it was. Slow, gentle and safe with lots of tender kissing and stroking. Soul-searching stares and entwined limbs. Admissions of love in their eyes, although not slipping from their tongues.
Devon rolled to lay on his back, and Chloe straddled his strong hips, his hardness deeply implanted inside of her warm sheath. His eyes worshipped the sight of her breasts, full and heavy with dark aureoles and tightened nipples. She leaned down and lightly licked the contours of his full lips, letting her breasts lightly graze his hard muscled chest, teasing them both.
Slowly and deliberately she rode him, grinding their hips into each other. Their eyes never parted and Chloe felt tears well in her eyes. They worked in unison as Devon raised his hips up off the bed to deepen each stroke within her. And he felt like he touched her very core. Deep inside of her gave him comfort like he had never known, and he wanted to stay there as long as he could. Chloe began to shiver with her first release, biting her lips to keep from screaming out.
“Scream. Yell if you want to. Don’t hold back from me, Chloe. Come on baby.”
He grabbed her hips with his hands and stroked deeper to hasten her climax. And Chloe did give in to the feeling, quivering from her toes to her soul. She sat up straight, her hands clutching wildly at her own hair. White blinding lights seemed to flash around her as he brought her release. She let out the scream she tried to bite back, and it was primal and hoarse.
How could he not give in to his own climax as her reaction to the pleasure he brought her pushed him over the edge. Devon turned over, pinning her beneath him
,
and held her close to him in his arms as he stroked inside of a little piece of heaven. He planted his tongue deep into her mouth as she panted, kissing her as if he drew energy from her soul. His body stiffened with the first white-hot spasm of his release. He felt that they would have surely created a child from their explosive union if not for their use of protection.
“Chloe, I . . .” he bit his own bottom lip to keep from telling her how much he loved her.
∞
Chloe had wanted to show Devon a little bit of New York. She crammed in more dinners in four-star restaurants, and front seats at Tony-award-winning plays into one week than he cared to remember.
Devon would have preferred to stay in her apartment cuddled in front of the marbled fireplace, just spending time with his woman. But he wanted to please her, and going out on the town seemed to make her happy.
Honestly, he had had it with rubbing elbows with the metropolitan’s wealthy and famous elite. He had thought Chloe had said she had tired of it as well, when she was in Holtsville. But alas, as he feared, being back in her hometown had obviously awakened in her the desire to jet set. Devon planned to return to Holtsville, but he was beginning to doubt whether she would return with him. Not when she seemed so at home in this environment.
Tonight she made reservations for dinner at some fancy restaurant, when he would have been happy with some of her good home cooking. But he was fast realizing that his Chloe in Holtsville was far different than this Chloe in New York.
∞
Chloe leaned over and kissed Devon’s cheek in the back of the Lincoln Town Car Ashanti had provided for her twenty-four-hour use while in town. All of this week had been for him. He had never been to New York and she wanted to show him the best it had to offer.
She herself had seen more of New York’s famous night life this one week than she had when she lived here. Chloe was hoping he wouldn’t disdain the Big Apple as much as he had before, especially since she had to spend another month here to begin promos for the hair care line she was endorsing.
His opinions of the city mattered to her because she was hoping to ask him to remain here in New York with her, just until her promotional work was done. Then they would both return to Holtsville . . . together.
The Fifty Seven, Fifty Seven Restaurant and Bar in the Four Seasons Hotel was a deluxe dining experience. It was one of Chloe’s favorite restaurants. Devon and she had been immediately ushered to their seat by the maître d’, and were given the red-carpet treatment. They had just ordered drinks, a margarita for Chloe and a rum and coke for Devon, when she spotted Calvin and a leggy beauty enter the restaurant.
She crossed her fingers, hoping that he would have enough class and taste not to make a scene. But Calvin wouldn’t be Calvin if he hadn’t headed in her direction as soon as he spotted them.
“Devon, here comes Calvin . . . my ex.”
“Hello, Chloe.”
“Calvin.”
She gave him a nasty look but he was busy sizing up Devon, who was equally busy sizing up Calvin. “Devon baby, this is Calvin Ingram. Calvin this is my boyfriend, Devon Jamison.”
Devon stood and flexed his muscles in the Shaka King coat-length blazer he wore. He was obviously more muscular in build than Calvin and when Chloe eyed them both standing in front of each other, shaking hands with barely concealed hostile looks, she found Devon purely the superior man.
She breathed an audible sigh of relief when Calvin moved on with his date to their table. He hadn’t even bothered to introduce the woman, not that either Chloe or Devon minded. “Sorry about that, Dev.”
“No problem” were the words he said, but Devon was thinking,
What the hell did she see in that asshole?
Devon had wanted to punch the pretentious uptight jerk in his face, but now was not the time nor the place for a show of male bravado. In the brief meeting he had immediately picked up on the man’s superior attitude. How could his Chloe ever have been compatible with that snob?
Chloe immediately picked up on Devon’s distant mood. He seemed to have something on his mind, as he frequently would get a faraway look in his eyes. She tried to engage him in conversation, but his mental attention was obviously focused on something else.
“Devon . . . Devon?”
She kicked him under the table.
He immediately jumped and howled out in pain. Several nearby people turned to look in their direction. “What, baby? Why did you kick me?”
“Because I’m tired of talking to myself.” She watched as he leaned down to rub his bruised shin. “I’m sorry, but it was the only way I could think of to get your attention.”
He gave her a look of total disbelief. “You could’ve tapped my hand!”
Chloe started to say something, but changed her mind, instead looking at him with an apologetic smile that lit up her face. “You’re right, but tell me what’s on your mind, Dev.”
He looked down at his plate of grilled chicken that they both had ordered. “We need to talk, but it can wait until we get ho— . . . uhm, back to your place.”
Chloe thought that over for a few seconds. “Well let’s go
home
and talk . . . now.”
He was more than ready to leave the glamorous establishment. When she reached in her small, beaded clutch purse, he cleared his throat. She looked up, saw his expression, and immediately closed the purse. When he first arrived they argued over who would pay for their dates, and they agreed to take turns.
Devon signaled for the waiter to bring the bill and slipped his gold card inside the slim leather billfold. Moments later he returned with the receipt for him to sign, and they left.
When they were back in the limo they were silent, each composing their thoughts, but they held onto each other’s hand tightly in the space between them. The silence remained even in the elevator ride up to the apartment.
Once inside, Chloe dropped her purse and wrap on the plush sofa in the living room. “So what’s up, Devon?”
“I thought you told me you moved to Holtsville to get away from the hustle and bustle of New York?”
“I did, and I still feel that way.”
“So when are you going back home?”
She smiled when he referred to Holtsville as her home. “I never moved away. It’s just that Ashanti had offered me an opportunity to make a lot of money for the community I was raised in, other needy areas and worthy causes, like the South Africans still feeling the effects of apartheid, or AIDS and cancer research. I wouldn’t have come out of retirement for any other reason, if not the opportunity to help.” She looked at him, her face showing how important this was to her. She only hoped he understood. “If other people had the fame and recognition that I have to make a lot of money in a short amount of time to help themselves, then I would have rejected the offer.”
She spoke with such conviction that Devon wanted to kiss her, hold her . . . and love her.
“A part of that requires that I remain in New York for at least another month, and I’ll be required to do some traveling in the months to come.” The last words she spoke trailed off.
He removed his tailored jacket. “Chloe, I understand how important this
all
is to you.” He waved his hand around the apartment. “But Holtsville is just as important to me, and I want you there . . . with me.”
She nodded in understanding.
He sighed, wiping his hand over his eyes. “What about us, Chloe, huh? I can’t take another day here. I’m ready to see Holtsville, South Carolina. So what about us?”
Tears filled her eyes. “Are you asking me to choose between making millions of dollars for charities, even if it means spending a little bit more time in New York than I planned when I retired, and having you in my life?”
“Don’t cry, Chloe. Damn!” he yelled as he stalked to stand by the window. “Just admit you never wanted to retire. Admit that you love eating at expensive restaurants and having front row seats to hit Broadway shows. Just admit that dirty little Holtsville can’t compete. Admit it! ”
Chloe flinched as his voice rose in anger. “Devon, you really don’t think that about me, do you? Because if you do, then you don’t really know me at all.”
“For you to drag me around in the midst of New York night life, then you don’t know me at all either, Chloe.” Silence reigned after that, and it was deafening. Chloe blinked back the tears pooling in her eyes.
