Free Let's Get It On by Cheris Hodges Page B

to have to make sure Damon didn’t get his clutches on her.

Chapter 7
    By the time she made it down ten flights of stairs, Kenya couldn’t breathe. She stopped and held the edge of the wall until her breathing became normal. Turning her eyes upward, she blew an angst-filled sigh. Why had she allowed him to touch her and kiss her? He had stirred feelings inside her that she’d worked so hard to bury in the deepest recesses of her heart. All it had taken was one kiss. One damned kiss that had almost made her forget nine years of pain and all the lies he’d told when he was sneaking around with Lauryn. One kiss had reminded her of the love they’d shared once, the tender moments they’d had sitting in her dorm room, eating pizza and kissing.
    He’s the one who ruined it all, she thought as she started walking again. And he had the nerve to tell me not to go out with Damon. Then he gropes me in the elevator, as if he has a right to touch me.
    Sweat dripped from her brow, her hands shook, and her panties were moist as she relived those moments in the elevator. Maurice had every right to touch her, because she wanted him to. She wanted him to make her feel alive, wanted to feel him inside her and taste him again.
    At the fifth floor, Kenya used her passkey to open the door to the stairwell. She ran into her room, peeled off her clothes, then jumped in the shower, setting the dial to cold. But she was still on fire. It was as if Maurice’s lips had branded her, igniting a desire that burned from the soul and oozed out of every pore. Running her soapy rag over her sensitive breasts, Kenya closed her eyes and fought the urge to hop out of the shower and track Maurice down so that he could cool the fire he’d started inside her.
    Am I crazy? That man just left his fiancée at the altar, and he’s the same man who cheated on me in college. A few hot kisses aren’t going to change the fact that he broke my heart.
    Snatching the handle on the shower to stop the spray, she grabbed a towel, wrapped it around her wet body, and headed for her suitcase to find another outfit for her date, for which she was now late. Kenya pulled on a strapless white dress and eased into a pair of sling-back white sandals after smoothing lotion over her body. Dashing out the door, she rushed to the elevator, hoping Damon hadn’t left the restaurant.
    When the doors of the elevator opened, Kenya saw Damon turning to leave the lobby. “Damon,” she called out, jogging slightly to catch up with him. She grabbed his shoulder when she caught up to him. “Sorry I’m late.”
    Turning around, Damon smiled broadly. “You were worth the wait. We missed the sunset, though.”
    â€œThere’ll be others, I hope,” she said.
    He clasped her hand with his. “The beach awaits us, princess.”
    Kenya blushed as they walked toward the beach. Something about the way Damon talked to her made her feel regal. He had manners, which most of the men she’d met in Atlanta and Maurice certainly didn’t have.
    Glancing over her shoulder, she gave Damon a cool once-over. He was the color of peanut butter, and his eyes sparkled, as if he held a wicked secret behind them. Maurice’s words echoed in her head. That guy’s up to no good.
    â€œYou’re quiet,” Damon said, slowing his pace once they reached the beach.
    â€œI was just enjoying the view,” Kenya lied.
    Stopping and standing in front of her, he replied, “So am I. God, you’re so beautiful.” He pulled Kenya into his arms and kissed her forcefully.
    Breaking off the kiss, she took two steps back. “Damon, I didn’t come out here with you to—”
    â€œDressed like that and on a secluded part of the beach with me? What did you think was going to happen?” He pulled her against his body again. “You want me, and I’m going to have you.”
    Kenya beat her fists against