Unnatural Affinity

Absentmindedly, I bobbed my head to the music when a shadow of shoes stood in my peripheral. I disregarded the shoes thinking the owner would catch the hint and move away, but his feet stayed planted. I sighed, preparing to let him off easy.

“How long do you plan to ignore me, Maxine?”

My head shot up at the sound of the luscious voice, my heart falling off the steady bridge to plummet into my gut. Mechanically, I put my phone into my clutch, my attention only on the man before me, the only man who could still me with one look or one word. My words were ghostly whispers when they fled my lips. “What are you doing here?”

Kale leaned forward to my neck, inhaling my scent. He dragged his nose up to my temple, touching his full lips there to swipe his tongue over the sweat there. “You can never escape me, aggele mou. Your unique scent has been engraved in my mind for an eternity.”

I inhaled sharply. I couldn’t stop the pulsing sexual tension lurking in my system, the hard beat of the music fluttering on the wall to shake my nerves to the rhythm. Our eyes connected and we didn’t need words to say how much we’d love to fuck right now. I could see it reflected in his eyes, us wildly losing ourselves in the heat of the moment. Our screams and moans echoing in the emptiness of the night air.

I took a moment to analyze him. I haven’t seen Kale in so long my insides quivered from the intimate proximity between us. My mouth watered for a searing kiss, but I pulled the reins on the extraordinary urge. He was casual in a light-colored button-up with the collar open and dark slacks. He wore a dark blazer over the shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. His beautiful green eyes were taunting me to fall into his arms, pushing for me to succumb to his will. I saw them burn ebony black for a moment before returning to their emerald reminding me of an evergreen.

I snapped out of the trance, swatting myself in the face with both hands. I couldn’t cool down and I had no chance of it while being in this tight room. If I couldn’t control Kale hearing my heart rate, I could at least prevent him from seeing the ridiculous flush against my cheeks. I pushed at his chest to give myself more time to think rather than breathing room. He could stand on the other side of the room and I’d still feel suffocated.

I moved around him, but he secured my hand in his, leading us to the dance floor. I let him guide me through throngs of thrashing bodies with ease. It was as if people could sense someone of great power was near because they all moved accordingly giving us access right in the middle under the flickering strobe lights. The deejay was in front of us spinning mix after mix.

Kale was the first to move to the music, taking my hips in his hands to sway side to side. He closed the distance between us our bodies pressed together. My breasts rubbed against his

chiseled chest from under the halter, my nipples turning into ripe berries. I circled one arm around his shoulder as he brought his head to rest on mine and one of his cool hands touched my naked back. My eyes cemented to his smart mouth. They were vulnerable out in the open for me to salvage. His eyes challenged me to take the chance we were both craving, the spark growing hotter.

Without another thought, I briefly touched my lips to his. Electricity flowed through each of my nerve endings waiting to engulf us in heated passion. It was like my body was rejuvenating from his touch. At some point, I turned in Kale’s arms. His hands snaked down my sides over the curve of my ribs to my abdomen to rest on my thighs. I held him close to me, lacing our fingers together. His erection was prominent on my backside. I felt the sexual prowess in the way his body swayed into mine.

We moved like this until I was sure to be drained from all sanity and common sense. We took a break from dancing to go to the bar where Khloé was swamped with customers. She winked several times at me, though I chose to ignore her. I was too aware of Kale beside me like another set of clothes. I didn’t think I needed to, but I sent her a quick text letting her know I was leaving.

We made the decision to leave the club half an hour before it closed to avoid the big crowds and drunken loiterers. Plus, any more dancing between us would lead me to turn against my plan of restraint.

“Where’s your car?” Kale asked, coming up beside me to brush his hand against mine.

I glanced at him as I walked down the sidewalk. He caught me and smiled but I moved my hand away. “I’m not sleeping with you tonight.”

If Kale was upset about my words, he didn’t show it. In fact, he smirked. “Where’s your car, Maxine?”

I slowed my pace as I looked out to the street for any available cabs. “I took a cab.”

Kale stopped walking, his expression confused and not approving of my decision. “I’ll take you home. My car is close by.”

I shook my head. “No, I said I wasn’t sleeping with you. I’m just fine catching a cab.”

Kale came up beside me in my next breath, the air around us swishing from his sudden movement. “Are you crazy? It isn’t safe for you to ride back alone at this hour.”

I faced him, folding my arms over my chest, trying not to appear so shaken by his sudden swiftness. “Then what do you expect me to do?”

“Let me take you home. I promise to keep my hands to myself.” He held his hands up in surrender; something I’ve learned doesn’t go far with him.

I then held up my engulfed hand in pure fire. “In case you’ve forgotten, I can take care of myself.”

Kale chuckled, reaching out to touch my flames even if they would do him harm. I moved my hand away releasing the inferno just when he would have made contact. “Are you denying me because of a pious reason? I didn’t take you for the holy type.”

His teasing made me want to kiss and burn him at the same time. “I don’t think it’s fair.”

A raised dark brow. “How so?”

I tightened my arms around myself, trying my best to hold his gaze as I spoke. But I could feel my heart losing the battle within seconds. “I exposed myself to you and let you see who I really am and I haven’t got an inkling about you. You keep speaking in riddles.”

Kale’s expression dropped and all lightness left his mood. His body went taut, the chords in his neck visible and his eyes impassive. Under the steel of his words, I could hear the undeniable pain. “I don’t know if I’m ready to tell you that.”

I huffed, preparing to turn on my heel. “Then I don’t know if I’m ready to give you my body…if ever.”

I made a quick left to the stoplights in the direction of my apartment. Since Kale wasn’t allowing me to take a cab and I was insistent on not getting in the car with him I figured I’d walk. The streets were empty and the cabs were still nowhere to be found. They must have ventured further down the street in search of customers that actually needed them and circle back this way once the club closed. I crossed the street when it was time and walked through the muggy night with my brooding knight in shining armor behind me. The walk wasn’t that far, though I could sense Kale was determined to make sure I made it home safely.

He kept his distance as I walked down the dimly lit sidewalks. Every now and again I would turn over my shoulder to see him as a dark figure walking stealthily with an awfully sexy expression. I faced forward, keeping my head low. There was a barking dog up ahead and the owner smiled at me as I passed, though her face grew worried when she saw Kale striding behind me. Even her dog whimpered as he passed.

I was thankful for the constant movement, the rhythmic sound of my heels against the pavement. It distracted me and kept my jittery body from having an overload. I let my mind wander, breaking through skulls into the privacy of LA’s citizens. I invaded so many minds on a regular basis it was a surprise I wasn’t committed.

The property to my apartment was just up ahead after twenty minutes. As soon as my foot made contact with it, I felt Kale beside me and his mouth at my ear.

“You know how to keep things interesting,” he murmured.

I jumped and shivered from the contact with goose pimples, whipping around in panicked anger. Both of my hands engulfed in flames and I quickly retracted the unnatural action. “Can you not move so quickly around me? I feel like my heart is going to give out.”

“It’s working just fine,” he said into the quiet of the night. “I can hear the staccato paces it makes when I’m beside you, the rush of blood through your veins.”

I clamped my mouth shut and walked across the courtyard up the stairs to my door. Kale stood behind me, so close my ass just brushed against his hardened steel. I could feel his breath, a golden touch, on my neck and down my spine. I enjoyed every second of it wanting him to breathe in other places too. But I made a pact with myself that I would hold out until he gave me a piece of himself and I needed to hold to it.

As soon as I let myself in, Kale closed the door and had me pinned to it milliseconds later. His mouth crashed onto mine, literally stealing my breath away. He tugged on my ponytail to bend my head back and give him complete control and access to my mouth. His kiss was like having sex the way he invaded and was so raw with it. His tongue moved with mine with expertise fluidity while his lips molded into mine tasting like the sweetest of treats. He wrapped one hand around my nape, his thumb playing with my pulse while my hands snaked up to hold his chiseled face.

My mind screamed for rationality while my body begged for the irrational. My body was winning without competition, trying to savor the delectable taste of him and remembering what our previous kiss was like.

“You want me,” he whispered against my swollen lips, grinding his hips into my moist flesh.

Instead of answering or giving him any openings, I continued to kiss him. I felt my legs wobble, my heels no longer able to sustain me. I kicked off my shoes and due to the sudden height difference; Kale lifted me from under my thighs and held me close. He caged me to the door while I locked my legs around him. I moaned as he moved his hips again into my weeping mounds to persuade me to give in to our bodily desires. He groaned when I threw my fingers into his hair, the sound nothing but primal male.

He broke the kiss to lick his tongue flat against the side of my face. It was one of the most erotic things to have him taste me as if I were the most desired dessert. He traveled down my neck, toying with my pulse again. I felt his teeth graze then nip.

“No biting,” I gasped just as he moved against me.

Kale growled in protest. I could feel the rumbles in his chest as if they were my own we were so close. The hard planes in his chest were like granite and the strength in his arms were indestructible cables. As much as I wanted to let Kale give me lovebites all over my body, I couldn’t allow him to give me one so openly when I hadn’t agreed to sleep with him. Hence, why I didn’t bother stripping him naked…or myself.

Kale was breathing hard when he let me go. We disengaged from one another, still managing to keep our fingers tangled. We weren’t completely ready to let the other go so quickly. I braced myself on my knees, looking into an abyss of black eyes. Our fingers released when I walked by him to my bathroom, throwing my thick hair over my head into a bun. Kale trailed behind me, standing in the doorway watching me.

“You are breathtaking,” he murmured. His eyes were back to normal and appreciative of what they saw.

With my cheeks flushed, I said, “I need to take a shower.”

I turned my back to him and began to undress when I heard the bathroom door close. I turned on the showerhead and gave it a few seconds to warm up. When I looked back in the mirror, I gasped to find Kale still in the bathroom with me only he was stark naked. I was so stunned by his glory that I couldn’t move. Out of this world definition in his abdomen muscles, taut golden skin sharp as razors over pulsing muscle, and strong bones. He was like a work of art that never should have been able to grace this earth. Ezra worked out every day and looked nothing like this. Seeing Kale naked made it impossible for me to have reasonable expectations for any man for the rest of my life.

He came to me, his erection bobbing as he walked, to engage in another bone-melting kiss. The touch of his skin against my own was indescribable, the hard velvet of him throbbing against my belly. It was like my senses were muted with clothes on and now everything was on high alert.

I was still a statue when he got into the shower, dunking his head under the sprays. My jaw went slack and I chastised myself for choosing this night to be so picky about having sex. Once my head entertained thoughts of him inside me, artfully thrusting as I came undone, I couldn’t stop. He stepped from under the water to shove dark strands from his face, his attention on me. He gestured with his hand for me to join him with a curl of his fingers.

“Come.”

I moved like I was in a trance. I couldn’t tear my eyes away if I tried. I stepped inside, closing the shower door behind me, and stood in front of this god with complete wonder. He leaned

in to nuzzle his nose against my face, holding me by my nape. His eyes were closed as he did so, relishing the connection and the boundary between us that was forever broken. His hands drove over my shoulders using the water to slide them down my arms and to my hands to bring them to his soft mouth.

He released me with a curve of his lips as if something were funny and began to wash with my floral-scented body soap. Snapping myself out of it, I turned my back to Kale to wash, feeling self-conscious about everything I did. I was more floored with myself for allowing us to reach this level of intimacy. Everything he did amazed me and there was nothing he could do that would make me stop feeling that way.

We didn’t wash each other, though we were close enough to be doing so. Kale kissed my shoulders and back as I washed, my skin a blazing furnace. “What are you doing?”

“Enjoying you the only way you’ll let me,” he whispered against the base of my neck. “Can I wash your hair?”

It didn’t need to be washed, which is why I put it up in a bun. But if he wanted to I’d let him because he asked and it seemed he was honoring my wishes. I let my hair down and instantly Kale’s hands were on my scalp. He played with my hair at first, seeing how it reacted to the water and touching it with fascination. The ringlets of my hair were soft and treasured by such tender hands. He started from the ends with the shampoo working his way up to my roots. Gentle hands like the clouds of the sky massaging and playing with strand after thick strand down the center of my back. He didn’t miss an inch as he combed his fingers through my curls.

“You have beautiful hair,” he commented.

“Thank you,” I responded quietly, moving my head to hide the pink tinge in my face.

He instructed me to close my eyes and directed me to stand under the showerhead. The water was warm but actually cooled me off. Being around Kale made me hyperaware of him and my actions, which resulted in my temperature setting off. I stepped out when he pulled me by my shoulders. I opened my eyes to stare into his. He reached behind me to turn off the shower not once breaking contact.

We climbed out together, Kale holding my hand, and we dried off. I kept my towel snug against me as I picked up my clothes to throw them in the clothes basket. Kale didn’t bother with his and followed me into my room where I changed into panties and an oversized tee. I sat on my bed, watching him as he walked to stand in front of me in his towel.

“I’m honoring your word,” he said, amusement coloring his words, but underneath was an edginess that made his voice raspy and dark, “but maybe we should compromise.”

I swallowed. “What do you mean?”

“You’re strung up tighter than a bow.”

I exhaled sharply, my heart beginning to race and my teeth sinking into my lower lip.

“Maxine, you need to relieve yourself and I can do that for you without providing myself any.” He cupped my face making me look up at him.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” I finally said. “I don’t think it will solve anything.”

I had a very positive feeling if Kale and I were to continue down this road I’d never be able to function. I’d always be craving more like an addict. His hand slid to my hair, fingers lodged and palm against my ear.

“This will solve a great deal in our circumstances.”

Once again, I found myself questioning how we got here. How did I allow this to happen when I was so adamant about keeping my pride and not letting him get the best of me? Yet, here I sat in my bedroom with this undeniably gorgeous creature offering to give me pleasure beyond my comprehension.

“What about you?” I asked before I could register what I’d said.

A smirk. “I’m old enough to hold out for a night.”

I tore my eyes away and moved further back into the bed. I curled loose strands behind my ears, giving myself a moment to breathe. “Is this why you asked me to think of you while you were gone? So, I’d come crawling to you and beg you to fuck me?”

He raised a curious brow. “No, I was hoping you’d genuinely miss me with the off chance you’d beg me to fuck you. Did you?”

“No.”

“I missed you, Maxine.”

It was useless trying to pretend his words didn’t affect me. He could already somehow hear my heartbeat and I’m sure he was gaining comfort in knowing he could spark such a reaction in me. Bringing my knees to my chest, I buried my face.

“You aren’t going to admit you missed me too?” he asked gently.

I shook my head, burying my face further.

I felt the bed dip then his hand on around my ankle, tethering me to the earth as I tried not to float away. “Do you want to hear my solution for your predicament?”

I lifted my head.

Kale tugged on my ankle and I was lying flat on my back in the next heartbeat he was beside me disrobed from his towel and had my shirt pushed up at my stomach. He held me from over my panties, the heel of his hand providing enough pressure over my sensitive button.

“I’m going to make you feel like you’ve never felt before and all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. How does that sound?” The curve of his mouth into that devilish smile was enough to make me give him every-and-anything. And he knew it.