More Than He Can Handle (5 page)

“The wedding ring is a symbol of eternity. It is an outward sign of an inward and spiritual bond which unites two hearts in endless love. And now as a token of your love and of your deep desire to be forever united in heart and soul, Louis may place a ring on the finger of his bride,” the minister said.

“I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you. I give you this ring as a symbol of forever, a symbol that you are the only woman that I want to spend my life with,” Louis said as he slid the ring onto Lillian's finger, then kissed her hand.

“And Lillian, by the same token, you have a ring to give to Louis. You may place the ring on his finger,” the minister said.

Lillian smiled and tears fell from her eyes. To the crowd, it was a beautiful gesture, but Freddie knew that it was scripted. She'd seen Lillian practicing her tears earlier in the day. She rolled her eyes as Lillian began her vows.

Drama,
Freddie thought. She glanced at Cleveland and he seemed to have the same thought judging by the look on his face.

“Louis, my love for you has grown like a seed planted in the earth. And it has blossomed into this beautiful flower. You are the man I want to spend the rest of my life with and the man whom I pledge my love to, willingly and without hesitation.” She paused and wiped a crocodile tear from the corner of her eye. Louis gripped her hand and smiled at Lillian.

Hook, line and sinker,
Freddie thought as she watched the couple. Though she didn't doubt Lillian's love for Louis, she knew her friend was performing right now. Lifting her head, Freddie's eyes collided with Cleveland's again. He was smirking, as if he were watching a cheesy chick flick and was going to spoil the ending for everyone.

Lillian continued her speech, “A love like ours only comes once in a lifetime and I'm going to spend my life with you, loving you and being the wife that God has called me to be.”

The minister cleared his throat. Lillian flashed him a look of irritation. Today was her day and the minister and everybody else were going to have to deal with it and listen to her vows that she'd written and rewritten six times.

“I love you more than words can begin to describe,” Lillian continued. “Thank you for allowing me to be your wife.”

Freddie fought her laughter and only smiled. She had to hand it to Lillian. If this had been a Hollywood movie, she would've been up for Actress of the Year. Freddie knew that if she ever got married, she wouldn't need all of this. No long speeches and no big production. Just her and the man of her dreams standing on a beach at sunset with a few witnesses and the preacher. Lifting her head, she caught Cleveland's eye again. Had he been staring at her the entire time?

 

 

Cleveland hadn't taken his eyes off Freddie since the ceremony began and as the minister pronounced Lillian and Louis husband and wife, Cleveland found himself excited about the prospect of walking Freddie down the aisle, touching her arm and feeling her body against his. The music began to play and Lillian locked arms with her husband. Next, Cleveland and Freddie linked arms and headed down the aisle.

“Some show,” he whispered in her ear.

“Tell me about it,” she replied and tightened her grip on his arm. “Lillian and her mother really outdid themselves with the theatrics.”

“And I thought I was the only one who felt that way. Lillian did get one thing right, though.”

Freddie raised her eyebrow. “What's that?”

“This dress looks amazing on you.”

She smiled uncomfortably but once they exited the church she dropped her arm from his. “One question. Why were you staring at me during the ceremony?”

“Because you were a lot more interesting to watch than Louis and Lillian,” Cleveland said. “And you weren't crying like every other woman in the bridal party. You kept your makeup in tact.”

“Whatever,” she said, fighting the urge to smile.

“Is it time for the reception?” Roland asked as he walked up behind Freddie and Cleveland. “Or do we have to take a thousand pictures first?”

“No, we have to toss the rose petals at Lillian and Louis before they get in the limo,” Freddie replied as she started walking down the steps to join the rest of the bridal party. The flower girl handed Freddie and Cleveland a small packet of rose petals. The little girl, with curly pigtails, smiled at them, then asked, “Are you married too?” Before either of them could reply, the little girl skipped away to the end of the line.

“I bet you want a few of those, huh?” Cleveland asked as he noticed Freddie smiling at the little girl.

“You really think you know me, don't you?”

“I know women. Weddings make you all think about babies and marriage, right?”

“You don't know as much as you think you do, so please shut up and toss the petals,” she said as Lillian and Louis appeared at the top of the church's steps. A trumpet blared and everyone ripped open their packages. As Lillian and Louis descended the steps, they were showered with pink and white rose petals. Actually, mauve and white. It was Cleveland's idea to use the roses that were left over from the archway. Freddie was surprised that he had the wherewithal to come up with the idea. It turned out to be beautiful and even Lillian would have to admit that despite her hysterics, the wedding came off without a hitch.

“Our duties are almost over,” Cleveland said as he and Freddie headed to the limo earmarked for the bridal party. She slid in first and Cleveland inched in beside her. His knee brushed against hers as the other bridesmaids and groomsmen got into the car. He felt her shiver and he knew that he had an effect on her. Cleveland smiled at Freddie then slid his hand on top of hers. Freddie looked pointedly at him, but made no effort to move her hand.

Amid the din of the chattering bridesmaids and groomsmen, Freddie and Cleveland exchanged heated glances at one another as if they were in the limo all alone.

“All right, single ladies,” Lillian called out. The reception was in full swing and everyone had drank their share of expensive champagne and liquor. Even Michelle, who'd been uptight all day was loosened up and had tried to get the group to do the Electric Slide.

Freddie was going to keep her seat, because her feet were throbbing and her head was spinning. However, her intoxication wasn't coming from the three glasses of champagne she had downed in succession. It was the heated looks that Cleveland had been giving her from his end of the dais. The way his gray eyes roamed up and down her body made her feel as if he'd unzipped her dress, slowly removed her bra and kissed her breasts until her nipples hardened underneath his full lips.

It's the champagne,
she thought as she pushed her glass away.

“Hello? Where is my maid of honor?” Lillian called out. “Freddie, get down here, now.”

“She is working my last nerve,” Freddie mumbled as she headed for the dance floor. Her steps in those three-inch heels were a little more wobbly than they had been marching down the aisle. She tried to stay in the back row of all the single women who actually believed that catching a bouquet would mean that they'd be the next person to get married. Freddie rolled her eyes; no bunch of flowers would bring a man into any woman's life and—

“Ready ladies?” Lillian said as she turned her back to the crowd. She tossed the bunch of roses over her shoulder and much to Freddie's dismay, they landed right in her arms.

 

 

Cleveland laughed at the look on Freddie's face when she caught the bouquet, but he also knew that if he was going to get a dance with her then he was going to have to be the one to catch Lillian's garter when Louis tossed it. Typically, the groomsmen and the other single men ran to avoid catching it, but Cleveland had to make sure he caught it.

“Hey man,” he said to Louis. “I need that garter.”

“What?” he replied, his voice filled with surprise. “Why do you . . . ah, Freddie caught the bouquet and you're determined to have that dance, huh?”

“And all this time that I've known you, I thought you rode the short bus to high school.”

“Keep playing with me and I'll hand deliver the garter to Roland.”

Cleveland rolled his eyes. “Just do it,” he said.

Louis shook his head from side to side. “I'll do it, but I'm telling you, Freddie is one nut you won't crack.”

Cleveland winked at his friend.
After tonight, you can call me the nutcracker.

After the women cleared the dance floor, Louis headed off the dais and stood in the middle of the floor. “All right my brothers,” he said. “Let's see who's going to be the next one to get married.”

A rumbling of “not me” rippled through the single men as they headed to the middle of the dance floor. Cleveland smiled knowingly as Lillian took a seat in the chair that Louis stood next to. He didn't watch his friend as he snaked his hand up his wife's dress and removed the blue garter from her thigh. He wanted him to go ahead and toss the damned thing.

If tradition held, the rest of the bachelors were going to back off when the garter went flying. Cleveland was just going to hold his hand out and catch it. Then again, unless the other groomsmen and single guys at this wedding were blind, for a chance to dance with Freddie, there might be a fight for that garter.

“All right, he who catches this is next on the matrimony train,” Louis said as he blatantly tossed the garter at Cleveland. Easily, he caught the satin and lace garter on his index finger. He turned to Freddie, who had her hand wrapped around a champagne flute.

The DJ stepped up to the microphone, “All right, if we can have the lady who caught the bouquet and the gentleman who caught the garter to the middle of the floor so that they can have a dance with the bride and groom?” He began to play Keith Sweat's “Make It Last Forever.”

Freddie didn't make a move toward Cleveland until the photographer prodded her. “Lillian wants a picture of this,” the round man said.

Cleveland crossed over to her, his face split into a broad smile. “Come on, Miss Barker, it's tradition.”

Freddie downed the remainder of her drink, then placed the glass on a tray held by a waiter who was walking past her. “Fine,” she said. “But if your hands drop below my waist, I'm going to hurt you, badly.”

Cleveland wrapped his arms around her waist and led her to the middle of the dance floor. As he pulled her against his body, her sweet smell filled his nostrils and she felt better than he could imagine. It took all of his strength to keep his hands on her waist and not slip down to feel the firmness of her round ass.

He had something he wanted her to feel though, and that was his manhood, which was pressing against his zipper. As Keith Sweat began singing “ooh, ooh, ooh,” Cleveland pulled her closer and the gasp that escaped her throat let him know that she felt exactly what she'd done to him.

Cleveland half expected her to slap him and leave the dance floor. But she didn't. Instead, she leaned her head against his chest. Her move emboldened him and he slipped one hand down the small of her back. Cleveland waited for her to protest. When she didn't, he smiled. Slowly, he inched his hand down until he cupped her bottom.

Freddie pinched his side hard. “What did I tell you?” she whispered.

“Ouch,” he said. “Why are you acting as if you didn't like it?”

Freddie stepped back from him and smirked. “You know what? I'm going to call your bluff, Mr. Alexander.”

“Meaning?”

She licked her sexy lips and Cleveland felt as if he had gotten even harder. “It's obvious what you want from me,” she said. “Let's go back to your hotel room.”

Cleveland nearly choked on his tongue. “You're playing with me, right?”

She raised her eyebrow. “See, I knew you were full of it. If you're not the hunter, you're not interested. I'm offering myself to you on a silver platter. Are you going to turn me down?”

“How much champagne have you had tonight?” he asked. “I don't want to take advantage of a drunk woman.”

“I'm not drunk,” she said. “Far from it, so you're not taking advantage of me.”

Holding her at arm's length, it took him all of two seconds to decide that he and Freddie were getting the hell out of the reception hall, best man duties be damned.

“Let me grab my jacket,” he said, then headed for the dais.

Louis and Lillian were so caught up in kissing, that neither of them noticed the best man and the maid of honor slip away.

 

 

The hotel where Cleveland was staying was within walking distance of the reception hall, so the couple headed in that direction. Cleveland looked at Freddie as she walked, her painful shoes in her hand and a slight smile on her face; he wasn't going to wait until he got into the room to taste her lips. Whirling around, he pulled her into his arms and captured her lips, kissing her with all the built up tension that he'd felt since meeting her. Her lips parted and allowed his tongue entry into her mouth. She tasted sweet. But what was more surprising to Cleveland was that Freddie returned his kiss with even more intensity. Her tongue overpowered his as she took the lead in the kiss. Wantonly, she pressed her body against his and rotated her hips against him. For a moment, he forgot that they were in the middle of the street in rural Georgia. Before things went too far he broke off their kiss.

“Damn,” he moaned. “Let's go.”

They nearly ran down the street to the hotel, but once they got into the room, Cleveland decided it was time to slow the pace a bit. He pressed Freddie against the door and roamed her body, taking in the curves and contours of her body as he unzipped her dress and peeled it from her body. Underneath, she wore the prettiest black lace strapless bra and matching panties. She looked amazing to him, her body was like a work of art, curved in all the right places. He ran his fingers down the valley of her breast, traveling down to her flat stomach and stopping above her panty line. Her skin was softer than the finest of silk. Freddie wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled Cleveland closer to her. “We're wasting time,” she said in a commanding voice.

“You have me on a schedule? I was hoping we had all night,” he said as he lifted her into his arms and walked backward to the bed. She wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed his neck softly and sensuously. Cleveland nearly dropped her when she began nibbling on his ear, which was the one spot that turned him on more than any other. Falling backwards, they landed on the bed. Freddie loosened Cleveland's tie and smiled. “Are you sure you can handle me all night?” she asked in a lust-filled tone as she unbuttoned his shirt.

“Oh yeah,” he breathed as her fingers unbuckled his belt.

 

 

Maybe it was the champagne that made Freddie act this way, she surmised as she reached into Cleveland's pants and stroked him. Maybe she was just releasing years of frustration on a man that she would never see again. She'd never done anything like this before, but she'd never had this much fun either. Cleveland squirmed and moaned in delight as she slid down his hard body and took his manhood into her mouth. She took him deeper and deeper, her lips caressing his throbbing manhood and sending waves of pleasure through his body. He buried his hands in her hair as he felt himself reaching the point of no return. Freddie pulled back and locked eyes with him. The total look of bliss on his face made her smile. She pushed his pants and silk boxers down to his ankles. Cleveland propped up on his elbows, watching her as she stroked him. Then in a quick motion, he reached down and grabbed her wrist.

“It's my turn to taste you,” he said, turning over on his side. Freddie was now on her back, looking up at Cleveland. She reached up and ran her fingers through his locks. He reminded her of a sexual warrior and she wondered if she was going to be able to handle what he had in store for her.

Cleveland parted her legs and kissed her inner thighs, making her shiver in anticipation of feeling his tongue buried between the wet folds of flesh hiding her pleasure point. She wanted him to rip her panties off and get on with the tasting, but Cleveland had other ideas. He was going to sample all of her treasures. Slipping his hand inside her panties, he lowered himself on top of her and kissed her neck, then traveled down to her breasts. He lifted her bra with his teeth and her bosom spilled forward. She had perfect breasts, nipples that looked as if they were designed for his lips. When his lips grazed one of her nipples, Freddie moaned and stroked the nape of his neck. Then he flicked his tongue across her nipples, alternating each breast he took into his mouth as she writhed underneath his kiss. When she thought his tormenting kiss couldn't get any more torturous, he slipped his finger inside her panties. She was so hot and wet that it was almost embarrassing. She didn't know this man well, but he'd found ways to turn her on like no other man who'd ever taken her to bed.

She groaned as his finger found her throbbing bud and caressed it, slow then faster and faster still. Freddie felt as if Cleveland was pouring gasoline on a fire that he'd built and now it was a raging inferno. There was only one way to put it out and his finger wasn't going to be enough. Still, she grasped his wrist, urging him deeper, harder, faster.

Cleveland was quick to oblige her silent demand as she arched her back. She was closer to a climax than she wanted to admit. Could he tell how love-starved her body was? He removed his finger, brought it to his lips and licked it.

“Mmm, sweet,” he said. Then he pulled her panties down and buried his face between her thighs. The moment she felt the heat from his breath near her moist flesh, Freddie trembled as his tongue touched every place where his finger had been. Her legs quaked as he nibbled and sucked on her throbbing bud. She called out his name as she felt the waves of an orgasm ebb at her senses. Freddie attempted to push Cleveland away, but he deepened his kiss and she exploded from the inside out.

Reversing the direction of his kiss, Cleveland found his way back to her breasts, kissing and sucking them until Freddie cried out in lust. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling his sex against hers. Though part of her wanted him to take her right then, she was smart enough to know that they had to be protected before they could go any further. She loosened her grip on his waist. “You need to . . .”

“I know,” he said as he reached underneath his pillow and retrieved a condom.

Part of her wanted to ask why he had a condom underneath his pillow? Maybe he planned to bring someone back to his hotel room after the wedding, then again, she was so far gone that it didn't matter. All she knew was she had to have Cleveland inside her and fast.

She took the condom from his hands. “Allow me,” she said as she pushed him on his back.

“Miss Barker, you can do whatever you want to do,” he said with a sly smile.

Freddie straddled Cleveland and rolled the sheath into place, then she guided him to where she needed him most. At first, it was a tight fit because it had been so long since she had been with a man and Cleveland was all man, thick and long. For a moment, it felt as if it was going to be too much for her to handle, but Cleveland shifted his hips and then it felt just right.

He groaned as Freddie rode him slowly. Her intensity was building as they ground against each other and then it was as if she were possessed. She bucked like a stallion, grasping his shoulders as he pressed deeper and deeper into her wetness.

“Oh, Freddie,” he exclaimed. “Damn.”