The Black Door (23 page)

IT HAD
been a few days since Ariel had seen or talked to Trey. She didn’t like the way they had left things the other morning. The more she thought about it, the more she thought it was time to come clean with Preston before the truth came out in some uglier way, especially since Preston had so much more to lose. But Trey strongly opposed the idea, saying that his father had too much on his plate, and that now was not the right time to expose their affair. His excitement over their relationship also seemed to have cooled overnight and Ariel didn’t know where she stood with him. The initial shock of sleeping with Preston’s son had long worn off, and regardless of what happened she planned to call off the engagement. Ariel glanced at the diamond sparkling on her left hand, slowly twisted the ring off, and put it in her desk drawer. Their relationship was a farce, and she didn’t feel the need to put on a front any longer, especially after Preston had told Trey that securing the nomination was
“the
single most important thing in my life.” His words cut her to the quick, and just thinking about that morning made her stomach churn. And while she didn’t know what would happen with Trey, Ariel knew she needed a man who appreciated all of her and everything she had to offer.

Ariel picked up the phone to call Preston’s office, but JoAnne’s voice interrupted her through the intercom.

“Ms. Vaughn, a Mr. Trey Curtis is on line two.”

“Trey Curtis?” she asked herself. She had assumed that Trey’s last name was Hendricks like his father’s, but obviously it wasn’t. “Put him through, JoAnne.” Ariel exhaled to calm herself before depressing her second phone line. “Well, hello Mr.
Curtis”
she said, emphasizing his surname.

He picked up on her tone and said, “I use my mother’s maiden name for business purposes.” He paused for a second. “I’m sure you can understand why”

Ariel knew exactly what he was talking about and didn’t push the subject. “I was just thinking about you.” She smiled into the receiver.

“Is that right?” he asked, unenthusiastically.

“Yes. I need to see you.” As soon as those words left her lips, Ariel regretted saying them. She sounded like some needy schoolgirl begging for attention. “Well, what I mean is—”

“I know what you mean. I need to see you too. How about tonight?”

She had planned to call Meri for a girls’ night out, but would rather have a girls’ night in with Trey. “Tonight’s good.” This time around, Ariel wanted him in her bed. They had made love at the club, and at his apartment, now it was her turn to play hostess. “Why don’t you come over to my place, say around seven thirty?”

“Okay,” he agreed. “What’s your address?”

Ariel rattled off her address, and then said, “I can’t wait to see

It took a few seconds for Trey to respond. “Okay, see you tonight.”

The rest of Ariel’s afternoon went by at a snail’s pace. Every five minutes, she found herself looking at the clock, which only made the minutes tick by even slower. She thought about leaving early, but she’d been slacking off at work lately and didn’t want to arouse any suspicions. Most of the partners were workaholics who came in early and stayed late, and expected their colleagues to do the same. She didn’t need Bob breathing down her neck about billable hours. Anyway, she had a three thirty deposition scheduled and couldn’t leave early even if she wanted to.

Ariel rushed out of the office at six forty-five and hailed a taxi. The deposition had taken longer than she had anticipated, and had put her behind schedule. She’d planned on whipping up a light meal of grilled pork chops, sautéed spinach, and mashed potatoes. She wanted to show off her culinary skills. Ariel was going to prove to Trey that she could cook in the kitchen as well as in the bedroom. He was a man after all, and men loved a woman who could satisfy their taste buds
and
their sexual desires. But at this point, she’d only have time to order carry-out from Table for Two, so she took out her cell phone and ordered an assortment of aphrodisiacs—oysters, caviar, mussels, and chocolate-dipped strawberries—to enhance their lovemaking.

With the evening midtown traffic clogging up the avenues and streets, Ariel didn’t get home until almost seven thirty. She peeled off her suit jacket and blouse on the way to the bedroom. She wanted to shower and change before Trey arrived, but now she would have to settle for a quick wash-up instead.

The second she turned on the water, the phone rang. “Damn,” she hissed, running from the bathroom back into the bedroom to answer the call. “Hello?”

“Hi, Ms. Vaughn. A Mr. Curtis is downstairs,” said the doorman. “Thanks, Pete. You can send him up.”

Ariel hung up and ran back into the bathroom. She dampened a hand towel and quickly dabbed her armpits. After her brief bird-bath, she jetted into her closet, kicked off her pumps, and took her nylons and skirt off. Ariel stood there naked for a second trying to decide what to wear. She snatched a black negligee off of its hanger and slipped it on. She then dashed over to the vanity table, took the bobby pins out of her bun, and shook her hair loose. As she spritzed her neck with ENJOY, the buzzer rang.

“Perfect timing,” she said, looking in the mirror. The see-through negligee left nothing to the imagination. Her 38-Cs, taut waist, and shapely hips looked delectable in the sheer silk fabric. Ariel got horny just looking at herself. She rubbed her hands over her boobs and felt her nipples harden. She couldn’t wait for Trey to suck her tits. The doorbell buzzed again, and she raced to answer it.

Ariel swung the door open and stood in the doorway with her legs slightly spread apart so that he could get an eyeful.

Trey had come over to talk, but looking at Ariel standing before him in a sexy, “come fuck me” outfit, he lost his train of thought, as the head on his shoulders shut down, and the head in between his legs took over. “You look good enough to eat.” He licked his lips, walked into the apartment, and shut the door behind him.

Ariel jiggled her boobs, causing them to do a little dance, and she then turned around and wiggled her behind. “Where do you want to start your feast?” She stepped closer, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave him a deep French kiss.

Trey was hypnotized by the movement of her tongue as it danced around the inside of his mouth, tickling his tongue, teeth, and the roof of his mouth. After a few minutes of giving into the moment, he pulled back.

“Why’d you stop?” She looked perplexed.

He reached up, took her arms from around his neck, and coughed nervously. “Well, I really didn’t come over here for sex, but when you opened the door in that sexy getup, I lost my train of thought,” he said, turning his back to her and walking into the living room.

Ariel stood in the foyer, shocked; she couldn’t believe that he wasn’t eagerly jumping her bones like the other night. Paranoia began to creep up from the soles of her feet, up through her legs, traveling to her consciousness, bringing her out of her lust-induced state of mind back to reality. Suddenly she felt self-conscious and crossed her arms in front of her breasts, before joining him in the living room. “So what did you come over here for?”

“Have you spoken to my father yet?” he asked out of the clear blue sky.

She looked surprised. “No I haven’t, but I plan to.”

“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” He looked down, and then back up at her. “I don’t think you should mention anything about us.” He looked away again. “Because there’s really no ‘us,’ Ariel.” He looked her in the eyes. “We got caught up in the excitement of The Black Door, but now that the masks are off, there’s no way we can continue seeing each other.”

“Funny, you didn’t say that the other night when you fucked my brains out,” she said, anger beginning to heat up her tone.

“Whoa, don’t you think you’re being a bit melodramatic? You know as well as I do, that this is an impossible situation. After all, you re—”

She cut him off. “Why is it
impossible?”

“Because you’re engaged to my father, and he’s embarking on a new career, a career with an extensive investigation in progress. And if anyone finds out about me, you, and The Black Door, the nomination will be over before it gets started.”

Ariel threw her hands in the air out of frustration. She was at a loss for words. She didn’t want to ruin Preston’s career, but she wasn’t ready to cut Trey out of her life yet. “Well, maybe we can just meet at The Black Door. Since everyone’s in a mask, nobody will have to ever find out,” she pleaded, trying to salvage the no-win situation.

Trey had to admit that their initial encounter was thrilling and mysterious, but now that reality had settled in, the thrill was gone. Seeing how selfish Ariel was acting, Trey knew that he had made a huge mistake by taking her back to his apartment and making love to her. Obviously she wanted more than he was willing to offer. Now he’d have to put on kid gloves and handle her with extreme care, so that she wouldn’t go rushing to his father with half-truths. “I hear what you’re saying.” He stood up, grabbed her waist, and pulled her close to him. “But please do me this one favor and wait until the investigations are over before you come back to The Black Door.”

Ariel’s knees buckled and she felt weak in his arms. It was like he had cast a spell over her and she was defenseless against his charms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her groin into his, trying to get him aroused. “Anything for you, Trey.” She began to grind her hips into him, but he pulled away.

“I gotta get back to the club,” he said, heading for the door.

Ariel started to follow him, to convince him to stay, but was stopped by the ringing phone.

LITTLE DID TREY
know, but Michele had been following him the entire day, and was shocked when he walked into the lobby of Ariel’s building. She recognized the exterior from when she and Preston had picked her up for their drive to Washington.

She stood across the street, behind a light post, and asked herself,
What the hell is going on?
Through the glass door, Michele watched Trey stop at the doorman’s podium and then walk to the elevators.

“I’ve got to get upstairs.” She knew firsthand how protective doormen could be, and didn’t want to chance being turned away like the other night.

Michele paced back and forth, trying to hatch a scheme to get past the doorman. And as she watched a parade of delivery people coming in and out of the revolving doors, the idea hit her. “That’s
it!”

“Hey!” she yelled across the street to a young man wearing a Table for Two uniform. “Can you come here for a second?”

“Yeah?” asked the delivery guy once he had crossed the street.

Michele took her wallet out of her purse, took out two crisp, one-hundred-dollar bills, and waved them in the kid’s face. “These are yours if you let me borrow your jacket and cap and let me take that delivery upstairs.”

His eyes popped wide open. “Yeah, okay, but I’ll need my jacket and cap back,” he said, reaching for the money and stuffing the bills into the back pocket of his tattered jeans.

“No problem; I won’t be long.” Michele traded her tailored blazer for the loose-fitting jacket, stuffed her hair underneath the cap, and took the thermo-sealed box from his hands. She looked down at the name on the delivery slip. “Eureka! It must be my lucky day!” she wanted to shout. Printed in clear view was Ariel’s full name and apartment number.

“Food delivery for apartment 1623,” she told the doorman once she entered the lobby.

He had never seen her before and looked at her strangely. Pete knew most of the guys who delivered to the building. “I’ve never seen you around here before.”

Michele began to mildly perspire. “That’s because it’s my first day on the job,” she explained.

“Oh,” was his response. He picked up the house phone and called up. “Ms. Vaughn, you have a food delivery coming up.”

“Okay, Pete.”

By the time Ariel had hung up the phone, Trey was at the door and had it partially open. “I hate to run, but I need to check on my new assistant manager.”

Ariel ignored what he was saying, walked directly up to him, and planted a big juicy kiss on his full lips. She wasn’t about to let him go without a proper send-off, and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer. She could feel his cock getting hard, and reached down and began massaging his manhood. “Are you sure you have to go?” she asked, in between kisses.

Trey was getting horny and thought that maybe one last fuck wouldn’t hurt. He reached up, put his hand underneath her negligee, and began playing with her nipples. She had an awesome rack and he couldn’t resist feeling her big jugs. He lifted her right breast, leaned down, and began sucking her nipples like they were his life source.

Ariel closed her eyes and moaned. “Ooh,
Trey,
that feels sooo good,” she purred.

“Yeah,
bitch,
I just bet it does!!!”

Ariel’s eyes popped open and Trey stopped midsuck. Standing there watching the entire scene was Michele. At first they didn’t recognize her face underneath the brim of the cap, but Trey looked closer and said, “Michele, is that you?”