Lovers Premiere (Kimani Romance) (13 page)

T
hey played hooky at Venice Beach. Blue ocean and an azure sky, it was like most of California—beautiful year round and always crowded. There were a ton of things to do. There were several vendors selling crafts, drawings and every type of junk food one could imagine. But it was the street performers that really caught their attention and entertained them.

At the Sidewalk Café, Ram and Sofia grabbed a light lunch and had fun checking out the eclectic crowd. Clearly mohawks were making a comeback. As well as spandex.

“Now you know I want to get you on some skates,” Ram said, munching on some hot wings.

“Oh, no,” Sofia started shaking her head. “That's not going to happen.”

“Oh,
yes,
” he contradicted. “You owe me.”

“Come again?”

“Yeah. Just when we got old enough to go hang at the skating rink without chaperones, you dumped me. Remember that?”

“This wouldn't happen to be the same skating rink you took Connie Woods to, would it?”

Ramell's eyebrows raised in surprise. “Oh, so you knew about that, did you?”

“Of course I knew about it.” She stiffened and straightened her shoulders. “I also heard that you and Connie were caught necking in the back of the rink next to the boy's bathroom.”

He choked.

“Uh-huh. You didn't think I knew about that too, did you?”

“More like I didn't think you cared,” he challenged, leaning back in his chair and smiling at her. “Now I just need to figure out if you're just giving me grief or if you're actually jealous.”

“Now why would I be jealous of that ten-year-old tramp? For all I know she's probably pulling tricks down on Hollywood Boulevard nowadays.”

“She's not pulling tricks. She's a Broadway actress.”

Her head jerked toward him. “And how do you know that?”

“She's an A.F.I. client…which I guess now makes her a Limelight client.”

Sofia worked her jaw while she reached for her lemonade. “I never knew that. Does she work under her real name?”

Ram laughed. “What? You think I'd tell you now? Look at you?”

“What?”

“My lips are zipped. You're not going to go back into the office and drop her from the company.” He laughed.

She shrugged. “I don't know what you're talking about. I was just going to check and see how she was doing…see if she's a good fit for the company.”

“Chill out, Sofia. It was just a kiss—a peck, really.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Actually,” he said leaning forward. “I kissed her hoping that the news would get back to you.” He reached across the table and picked up her hand.

“Yeah. Likely story,” she said, pulling away playfully, but he held firm.

“I have no reason to lie,” Ram said. “I had to do something. You refused to talk to me—even at your parents' funeral.”

Sofia dropped her gaze and just stared at their connected hands.

“I'm sorry about that,” Ram said, quickly wishing he hadn't brought up Sofia's parents.

A silence drifted between them and Sofia could tell that he wanted to pursue his line of questioning and for a few seconds her stomach looped into knots. The last thing that she wanted to do was to ruin their playful mood to start talking about what happened back then. Plus, she still felt uncomfortable at the possibility of having to tell Ramell about his father and her mother—especially since his parents were still married.

“Anyway…Connie and I are just good friends,” Ramell said, returning to the subject at hand.

She sensed that he changed the subject for her. Sofia glanced up and met his intense gaze. He was clearly trying to read her like a book. “Don't.”

“Don't what?”

“Don't stare. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“Then what do you propose I do when I want to let you know that I'm sitting here remembering some of those tricks you showed me this morning?” Ram said, attempting to steer the conversation in yet another direction.

She blushed.

“Do you have any more?” he asked.

It was her turn to lean back and level him with a sultry look. “Maybe.”

“Well then, before we get to that, first I think we need to fill in a few blanks.”

So much for thinking that she had dodged a bullet. “What sort of blanks?”

“Well, I know a lot about the ten-year-old you, and I definitely know a lot about the—”

“Watch it.”

“The
mature businesswoman
side of you, but there a few questions I should know…seeing that we're now man and wife.”

“All right. Shoot.”

“Okay.” He set his beer back down. “Is yellow still your favorite color?”

“It's one of my favorites. I tend to like coral or peach
a little bit more nowadays. How about you? Is blue still your favorite color?”

“Guilty. Favorite song?”

“‘Purple Rain.' You?”

“I'm all over the map on that. But if pressed I'm really feeling that joint Charlene and Akil performed at our Pre-Award party.”

“‘The Journey,'” Sofia said, nodding. “Yeah. I have a feeling that's going to be a big hit for them.”

They continued through the standard line of questioning until they eventually reached some stickier topics.

“What was the longest relationship you've ever been in?” Ramell asked. Sofia shrugged.

“C'mon. You can tell me,” he pressed.

“John Davis. We dated when I went to Cambridge. When we were together, I was too busy to notice that he was a complete jerk. Once I graduated and we spent, like, a whole week together, I noticed.”

Ram chuckled.

“What about you?” she asked.

“That's easy. I've been in love with one woman my entire life.”

Sofia blushed again. “I'm flattered. But we haven't been in a relationship that entire time so come out with it. Who was it and how long?”

He rolled his eyes back and thought about it for a second. “I guess that brings me back to Connie.”

“You dated Connie?” she asked incredibly. “I thought you said that it was just a kiss.”

“It was just a kiss that night,” Ram clarified. “We dated in college for about three months.”

“Three months is your longest relationship?”

“Like I said, I've been in love with one woman my entire life. No one else has ever come close, so…”

“So you've had a lifetime of booty calls and one-night stands?”

“Something like that.” He started shifting in his chair. “Hey. Don't hate on me because you didn't come around soon enough.”

“Look. You're the one that chose this line of questioning.”

“Good point. So let's get off this subject before I have to look this John Davis dude up and put him out of his misery.”

“Right. And you know Ms. Connie is going to be looking for another agency to represent her when I get back to the office, right?”

Ramell threw back his head and laughed. “Whatever. Come on. We're going skating.”

“Uh, wait. I don't know about this,” Sofia protested, but Ramell tossed money down on the table and then grabbed her by the hand. Next thing Sofia knew they were renting skates, helmets, knee and elbow pads.

“I'm going to look ridiculous in all of this.”

“You're going to look safe,” Ram said.

“Then how come you're not wearing all this stuff. I look like a tall three year old.”

“Because I know what I'm doing. You haven't been on skates in years.”

“More like decades,” Sofia clarified.

“Then there you go.” He stood up and turned to help her.

Sofia was up for a full minute and then her long legs tried to roll in two different directions. She screamed and then made a desperate lunge for Ramell. He grabbed her and tried to hold her up, but then he toppled over along with her. When they hit the concrete they immediately burst into laughter like pain was funny.

“Well, at least you got busting your butt out of the way pretty quickly.” Ram laughed and then helped her back up. “Are you all right?”

Sofia was still laughing so hard that she was crying. “Yeah, I'm fine. I can do this,” she affirmed, and then took a deep breath.

“Are you sure?” he asked, helping to wipe away a few tears.

She shook her head no, but said, “Yes.”

Thirty minutes later, while she was still a trembling mess on wheels, Ram tried to convince her that she was ready for him to remove his hands.

“No. Don't let go,” she begged.

“You're doing fine,” he said.

“Wait! Don't!” She started to tremble harder. “Don't do it, Ram,” she begged. “I swear I'll never forgive you.”

“Is that a fact?” he asked.

“Yes! I'm not trying to break my neck out here.”

“You're not going to break your neck.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you're already skating by yourself,” he
informed her, rolling out to her side so that she could see that she was now skating on her own.

Sofia's eyes nearly bugged out as she glanced down. “I'm skating!”

“I know! Look at you.”

Her head jerked toward him as she proclaimed again. “I'm skating by myself!”

“I know!”

“
I'm skating by myself,
” she announced to everyone on the boardwalk.

A few people stared at her but some of them clapped. A big smile exploded across Ram's face at seeing her so happy. Soon they were skating and eating candied apples like a couple of kids. The day breezed by to the point that Sofia was sad to see the sun set. But with Ramell standing next to her and staring at her that sadness was replaced by desire.

“You ready to go home?” he asked.

Home.
They had a home together. The whole thing was just so strange to her. It was blowing her mind and stealing her heart at the same time.

“Yeah. Let's go.”

 

Sade's “Soldier of Love” played softly from the speakers that Ramell had set up next to their new bed. After taking a long shower together to wash the day's dirt and grime away, the newlyweds stood in the center of the room, lips locked and smelling like Ivory soap and baby oil. The more their tongues tasted the hungrier they became.

Ramell moaned while his hands made light circles
along Sofia's lower back. His touch was so feathery soft that it caused goosebumps to rise across her body. Her nipples hardened and ached, but they were nothing compared to the iron pipe that was pressing against her brown, wet lips.

Unable to resist, Sofia's slender fingers drifted down between their bodies. She took hold of his oiled rod and started stroking him. Though their mouths were still connected, she felt him gasp. She smiled against his lips. She might not be able to win an argument with him, but she sure as hell held power over him when their clothes came off.

Wielding some of that power, Sofia pulled their lips apart and nibbled her way across his strong jawline until she reached his right ear to whisper, “I want to taste you.” She blew a cool stream of air against his lower earlobe. He shivered and then stretched a couple of more inches in her hand. “Oooh. That's a good boy.” Slowly her knees dipped until they kissed the floor.

With her head at waist level, Sofia continued to rotate and stroke Ram's thick erection. Just gazing at its smooth length and fat mushroom head made her mouth water. Putting on a timid act, she leaned forward and just swirled her tongue around the tip like it was a piece of candy.

Ramell hissed and stepped forward, hoping that she would open her mouth wide. She didn't accommodate him. Instead, she ran her tongue along the side and then rolled under and slid back up toward the tip. “You're trying to kill me,” he panted.

“Now why would I want to do that?”

“I don't know. You must hate me or you wouldn't torture me like this.”

“Torture?” Her wonderful tongue moved to the other side. This time inching along at a snail's pace. “I don't know what you're talking about.” She glided over a small vein near the top and felt Ram jump reflexively. Sofia smiled and then did it again. Same reaction.

Convinced that she'd found a small G-spot, she concentrated on that area, licking and sucking until Ramell's large hands gently grabbed fistfuls of her hair. Showing no remorse, Sofia stretched her mouth over the head, but made sure her tongue massaged the hell out of that vein.

Ram rolled up onto his toes. Not wanting to come yet, he summoned superhuman strength to jump back and spring himself free from her divine mouth. “You know I'm going to pay you back for that, don't you?”

Sofia put her innocent face on as she blinked up at him. “What did I do?”

“That's not going to work.” He took her by her elbows and pulled her up from the floor and before she could process what he was about to do, he lifted one of her legs and pressed it high against his chest so that she had to balance her weight on one leg and lean against him. Ram reached down and squeezed his fat head in between her melting brown sugar and hissed slowly.

Like before, Sofia's mouth sagged open at his initial entry. He was thick, heavy and felt so damn good that a few tears streaked down the corners of her eyes.

With one hand on her stretched leg and the other one
on her hip, Ramell started moving. “How does that feel, baby?”

Sofia couldn't speak and didn't bother to try. She was too busy enjoying all the feelings that he was working out of her body. She was on a fast train to ecstasy and he was definitely driving.

“Uh-huh. I have you now, don't I, baby?” His hips stopped stroking and started pounding. You're not the only one with power in this bedroom, sweetheart.” To prove his point, Ram stopped long enough to get a good hold so he could go ahead and lift her completely off the floor and then just bounce her body on top of his length.