Courting Guinevere (The Davonshire Series Book 1) Read online

  Gawain’s face showed grave alarm and concern that he could have actually done her physical harm, “I’m sorry if I was too rough. I hope I didn’t hurt you?”

  She sat back up, running a long, multi-colored nail along his jaw line. “No, but after that whole male exotic dancer thing as Sir Hump-A-Lot, I’m surprised you can walk this morning!”

  His head hung low and he knew she was telling the truth because his friends had called him that in college. He always joked that if he was going to be a male stripper that would be his stage name. He stood to set the coffee cup on the leaning nightstand and felt the pinch on his right butt cheek. His hand felt the Band-Aid there and he turned to ask what had happened and saw her admiring his body.

  “You don’t have an ounce of fat on you,” she said as her eyes lingered on his chest, then his mouth. He could see that she was replaying a scene from last night in her mind. He intentionally moved slowly to allow her to enjoy the view. He stopped when he spotted her shredded panties on the floor.

  I ripped off the poor girl’s drawers – hold up. Where are mine?

  “Well, can I at least ask where my underwear are or do you want me to stay like this?”

  “Oooh, I need to go and get them.” Shontae jumped off the bed, putting on lounge pants on her way out the door.

  He turned as she headed out the bedroom door, and, frowning, asked, “Did I leave them some place?”

  She stopped in the doorway. “No, silly, they were covered in chocolate, honey, and of course, whipped cream. They’re downstairs in the wash.” She instructed him to hit the shower and she would go and retrieve his things.

  “Owww…oowwwww…owwww,” he cried as the soap in the shower hit his knees that were covered in rug burns. His back was marred with scratches, and there was a second bandage on his left ass cheek.

  I went to bed with a demon. What in the hell was I thinking? You’d better check her phone for video.

  He had taken E, gotten covered in condiments, and broken a woman’s bed in the throes of passion. Even worse, he could still taste her. She tasted really good, but he had not been safe last night, which was not like him at all. If the whole scenario had not been so scary, he might have fancied himself in love.

  Stepping from the shower, he dried off with a threadbare towel that felt like a dry loofah. A glance around the small place and immediately it was understood that the tiny apartment really needed some fixing up. There was no need for modesty now as he sauntered down the hallway naked since the towel was too small to fit around his waist. To his surprise, she had returned, stripped the sheets, changed the covers, and laid his clothes across the bed.

  How long was I in the shower?

  He looked for her after he dressed, as small as the apartment was, there weren’t too many places to hide. Gawain located her on the stoop talking to a neighbor. He checked her fridge. Much like the apartment, it was almost empty. The sandwich she had made him was the last of her food. A quick perusal of the cupboards and he found those too were also bare and she only had two of everything – cups, glasses, and plates.

  Leaning against the counter, feet crossed at his ankles, he downgraded his earlier assessment – his shoes and pants probably cost more than everything she had in this tiny place. Shontae walked in the front door and found him in the kitchen. He was surprised that she was also dressed. More surprising to him was his reaction when she smiled at him.

  Gawain understood what he needed in his life. A connection.

  “Shontae, I would like to see you again.”

  4

  Testing the Skillsets

  “Oh really?” she asked, waiting to hear that he was married and wanted to make her his once-a-month honey pot.

  “Actually, I would like to see you a lot.”

  The tensing of the muscles in her face and the change in her stance showed her body language was suddenly defensive. “I ain’t nobody’s ho!”

  Moving closer to her, he placed his hands on her shoulders. “I am asking you to be my girlfriend.”

  “You mean like going on a date and shit like the movies and the theater?”

  “Yes, going out to eat at fancy restaurants and shit, too.”

  They were smiling at each other, but her smile quickly faded. “What?” he asked.

  “Why me when you can have any woman you want?”

  “I will take that as a yes, because the woman I want is you.”

  She took several steps back while shaking her head no. “A man like you comes with paperwork, lawyers, and shit a bitch has to sign.”

  He laughed as he closed the distance between them, and kissed her on the forehead. “My needs are simple, Shontae. I am on the road 20 days out of the month. Although my physical office is in Chicago on the 17th floor, my assistant manages most of my day-to-day stuff. I’m only in the office at the end of each month for meetings, paperwork, and such.”

  At the end of each month Gawain wanted to be with her. “I believe in loyalty, though. I will not be unfaithful to you and I expect the same.” The last thing he wanted was to show up and find his side of the bed already warm.

  “In return what do I get? You gonna pay my rent, buy me fancy red bottom shoes, and I lay down every time your dick gets hard?”

  He stepped back from her and looked at her face. “No, Shontae that is not what I’m asking. Although if you need me to do those things for you, I will.” He exhaled, grateful he always carried a small toothbrush on him and had brushed away the instant coffee. “I enjoyed your company and evidently I trusted you enough to let my ‘freak flag fly’ and I want to see you again.” His thumb rubbed her arm, coaxing her to let down her guard.

  “Just like that? You and me, out with friends, going to a movie, the whole nine?” When she said it, it did sound ridiculous, especially with him standing next to her, looking like a page out of GQ and she a commentary on inner city living.

  He loved it. He liked her energy and spirit.

  “Yes,” he took her in his arms, “and no, I do not expect you to lie down every time I get hard because if that was the case, you would never leave the bed.”

  Gawain changed his tactics. His first approach was getting him nowhere so he took a different one. First, by whispering in her ear, “Do you have any idea how much you turn me on?” He pulled her in close to him, holding her body softly.

  “Even being this close to you is about to drive me absolutely insane,” he whispered in her ear.

  “I rinsed my mouth out,” he said to her as his tongue ran up the side of her neck. “And I didn’t want to because your …” he mumbled it in her ear, “… tastes that damn good. So good in fact, I wouldn’t mind licking …”

  Shontae softened in his arms. Gawain allowed his fingers to press into her flesh as he used his leg as a wedge to open hers.

  “You ignite all of my senses. I love the way you smell, the way you taste, the perfect fit when our bodies come together.” He lifted her off the floor and wrapped her legs around his waist.

  “I can still feel the tightness of you surrounding me from the last time you …”

  Shontae was melting in his arms and placed her arms around his neck, holding him close as if she could soften into him as she did in the wee hours of the morning. She held him tight and remembering the passion he brewed in her last night and at the same time patient and tender in his lovemaking.

  “I love the sound of your voice when I stroke that spot and make you…” He whispered the dirty words in her ear. “The feel of your skin against mine,” he said as he moved his chest against her breast, feeling the nipples become taut through the fabric.

  Last night, in the midst of his passion, he had stopped speaking English. She wasn’t sure what language it was, but she learned to follow his movements like when they danced, and whatever instructions he was giving, in whatever language it was, she responded. Sexually, he took her places she had never been and he reacted to her like a fat kid at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

 
Shontae knew what he was doing and she was trying futilely to fight his assault on her senses. Her voice was husky with need as she said, “When you do start talking, you just string all those words together and they sound so pretty.” Her mouth fell open as he pulled her body so close. She felt like she was melting into him.

  He was insatiable last night. He used his hands, his legs, his mouth, and at one point he was doing something with his feet to her calves that drove her crazy. Gawain seemed to read her mind and understood how to communicate with her body – a body she felt was betraying her again, just as it did last night.

  His hands dropped lower. “This has to be the world’s most perfect ass,” he added as he moved his hands down and placed them on her perfectly rounded butt cheeks. Her mouth found his and she kissed him in a way that ignited his need for her, leaving him torn between his need for food and his desire to be with her again.

  “I need food, but, dear heavens, Shontae, after we have some lunch….” His voice trailed off as his lips found her neck. She felt so natural in his arms. Whatever feelings and emotions he was experiencing were awakening something inside of him. He wanted to feel it all the time.

  I need this woman.

  Gawain was then hit with something that equaled fear. He did not want to go back to his hotel and be alone. He didn’t want to be alone at all.

  He wanted her laughter.

  He wanted her joy, the freedom, the sharing.

  He wanted her touch.

  He wanted her for his own.

  The recesses of his mind pictured the thugs at the club last night watching her body in the cat suit. The thought of some homeboy with sagging pants touching her made his blood boil. He needed Shontae in his life and wanted something close to normal in his day-to-day existence. He felt selfish for wanting her for himself. He had made billions of dollars by having no fear in business, yet in his own life, he showed cowardice.

  No more! Take her for your own.

  Gawain made his move.

  “Shontae, I am asking you to be mine.” He kissed the other side of her neck while his hands slid up the sides of her hips to her shoulder blades, pulling her so her breasts were strained against the fabric of her blouse. He could feel the nipples straining through the cotton of her top.

  “I want to wake up next to you,” he nibbled on her ear lobe.

  “I want to spoil you.” His hands massaged her butt and he pulled her closer so she could feel how much he wanted her.

  “I don’t like to share,” he said as he kissed her lips. His hands were making subtle suggestions to her body, asking for it to respond.

  The food is going to have to wait.

  His hands moved under her shirt, pulling it up while pulling her pants and underwear down. He used his foot to hold the pants in place on the floor as he lifted her body, feet and all, out of them.

  His breath was husky, “Tell me you understand what I am asking of you, Shontae.”

  “Yes, I understand,” she whispered through raspy breathing.

  His fingers went to work prepping her body, and in one motion he walked over and gently sat her on the table so her hips were even with his own.

  “Help me,” he stated.

  Shontae reached for his belt loop, then his zipper, and in quick fashion held his readiness in her hands. No need to go for the protection now after what they did last night, but he was a creature of habit and still managed to get suited up. He only hoped that fate would not destroy him over this woman.

  “Do you want me, Shontae? Tell me you want me as much as I want you.” He kissed her again while using his fingers to prepare her body. “Each time I think about being inside of your delicious body, I get so hard I can’t even think straight,” he emphasized the last word with a gentle thrust of his hips. “Tell me you want me as bad as I need you right now,” he said through fevered kisses.

  “Yes, I want you.” His fingers were driving her senseless and she was so close, he positioned himself at the precipice, but did not enter.

  Gawain whispered dirty words in Portuguese in her ear as he lowered his head to her breast, pushing her torso onto the tabletop, “I want you as mine, mine alone.”

  Shontae wrapped her legs around his hips, inching her way closer. Gawain gave more kisses, more touches, but he needed her to feel how much he wanted her and not just for this moment. The tearing of the fabric could be heard as he ripped open her blouse, hearing the small buttons scatter about the floor.

  Gawain was almost rabid with his need for her, but he would not rush it. “I am going to … so good … that every time I walk in the room …” he lapsed into another language as he looked at her with an intensity that nearly made her come undone.

  “Oh yes, yes, yes,” Shontae said as her hips moved closer to him, desperate to connect their bodies.

  “I will take good care of you, but I need you to trust me,” he kissed her some more as his mouth slid over her breast. “Will you trust me to take care of you?”

  Breathlessly, she answered as she threw her head back while his hands massaged her perfect full breasts, “Yes, yes, yes.”

  While his mouth was on her breast, his fingers were working again and when he took one of the hardened buds into between his teeth, she sat up on the table, locking her legs around his hips, pulling him closer.

  His voice was strained and littered with passion, “Show me how you will take care of me, Shontae.”

  Using her legs, she pulled him forward as she shifted her hips to take him in. The liquid heat of her almost made him loose his grip. He buried his face in her neck.

  She feels so damn good.

  He gently pressed forward, cognizant of her potential soreness from their early morning endeavors. “Tell me what I need to hear, Shontae.”

  He plunged deeper, withdrew, plunged again and began to use his hands to bring her to a rapid climax.

  “Tell me what I need to hear, sweetheart,” he said forcefully while he gently pulled her hips forward. His hands worked some more, but she was stubborn and understood what he was trying to do. She moved with him, forcing an increase in his pace, but Gawain knew he could outlast her.

  Shontae was not going to give in easily; she contracted her Kegel muscles and began to not only milk his body but his resolve as well.

  But Gawain was on a mission. He wanted her as his and today he wasn’t taking no for an answer. He laid one hand on her abdomen and the other on her back. It was a quick two shifts of his arms, her hips, and his right leg, he had maneuvered her into the perfect position to find her special spot. “Shontae,” he said her name through gritted teeth, giving short strokes, a long stroke, a short stroke, and then he continued adjusting her body angles with each of his movements.

  His breathing became rapid as he added a deep long stroke, dipped his hips and knees, and thrust upward.

  Shontae looked over her shoulder at him like he had just accidently poked the wrong hole. Gawain raised his knee for leverage but his pants pooled around his ankles hindering his next move. The sound he was waiting for was right on the horizon, so, dipping again, he thrust upwards, but harder.

  He heard her say, “Ooh!”

  He knew he had found the magic spot, he asked her again as beads of perspiration dotted his brow, “Tell me dammit!” He thrust again and dipped, coming upwards in small even strokes, and heard her coo, “Tell me!”

  He dipped his knees again and came up harder, “It’s yours, it’s yours!”

  Gawain pumped harder, “Tell me again!” She cried out his name and she came apart in his hands. Using the power of his thighs, he thrust upward, dipped his knees, and wiggled his hips, thrusting upwards again.

  Gawain wanted to make sure there was no misunderstanding in what he wanted from her. Loyalty. He flipped her back around and brought her legs up to his shoulders, “I want you to be mine, Shontae.” He picked up her hips while using her bottom as a counterweight. He rocked her back and forth across his need.

  Her facial ex
pression changed and she went on the attack by clenching her muscles and asking him, “So you don’t like to play fair do you? I said yes, but you want to power play me.”

  Tensing her muscles, she almost brought him pain. This was a battle and he was not about to lose. She squeezed tighter while attempting to force him to a physical release. He pulled back and smiled. Shontae grinned at him, baring the star on her tooth looking like a cutthroat in a dark alley.

  She clenched harder and asked him, “What are you going to say to me?” The beads of sweat were now ribbons of moisture running from his brow and down his face.

  Shit, I am about to lose it.

  She squeezed again while leaning back on the table and rolling her hips upward, causing his knees to buckle. In one move, her legs were down off his shoulders, and she was coming off the table, still holding him inside of her and she took him to the floor.

  Bucking her hips and clenching, unclenching, adding small hip gyrations, “So you want to claim this as your own?” she yelled at him and slapped him at the same time snapping his head to the side. Slightly dazed and now beyond reason, he just wanted the release she promised.

  He tried to answer her question, but it came out weakly, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth like he had been hit in the head with a hammer, “Horrhhg … uhh.”

  He gave in, grimacing while calling out her name, “Shontae … damn … Shontae.” His body was shaking as she brought him to a climax that sapped him of all energy. Shontae collapsed on top of him and he tried to hold her but his fingers felt numb. He used his whole hand, hoping the fingers were gently stroking her back.