Risking It All Read online

  “Real estate is my thing. I’m a realtor.” Julissa had been working as a licensed real estate agent for the past three years. After she moved in with Michael less than a year ago, he insisted that she work only part time so that she could keep up the household duties like cooking and cleaning. Wifey duties.

  Quinton looked surprised. “Oh. Well, we should exchange numbers and maybe we can get together sometime. I primarily buy commercial properties. I have a few residential, as well.”

  Julissa didn’t know if she was comfortable yet to exchange numbers with a man she barely knew. “Oh. I primarily deal in residential, so I may not be of any help.”

  “I’m pretty sure you know more than I do. Besides, I still want to get together sometime. I’ve been here a week and have had no one to really show me around town.”

  “Oh. Well, I’m pretty sure that Richard can show you lots of things to do here in Atlanta.” Julissa realized that she hadn’t touched anything on the plate she’d carefully prepared only moments ago. She didn’t know why, but suddenly food didn’t interest her at all, anymore.

  “Obviously, Richard is busy with his wedding and after the wedding, he’ll be away on honeymoon. It will be time for me go back to Florida by that time. I’d rather a beautiful woman, such as yourself, show me, anyway.”

  “I’d be happy to show you, but I—”

  Before she could finish, Devon blew his whistle and half-yelled, half-screamed for everyone to gather around again. Saved by the bell.

  “I guess we should go,” she said.

  “We can talk after rehearsal, if you have time, of course, and only if you would like to.” With that, he pressed his hand in the small of her back as they walked towards the center of the ballroom.

  Yes, I would like to.

  Julissa couldn’t help but feel an immediate connection to Quinton. Despite the few words they’d shared for less than ten minutes, he really sparked her interest. Julissa took note of the girl that would get to walk down the aisle with him at the wedding. The girl, Christina’s cousin, certainly did look pleased with Quinton. In fact, she was hanging all over him as Devon lined them up for demonstration on how to walk and stand. She didn’t blame that girl. Quinton was eye candy.

  As Ed stood beside her and rambled on and on about his new job, she let her mind wonder off to her own relationship. Michael had promised her months ago that the day they would get married was near. The only reason she’d moved in with him was because he had assured her that if he was ever going to get married, then she would be the woman to be his wife. Even though their relationship was on shaky grounds half the time, he never failed to remind her that no other woman, besides herself, was worthy enough to be his wife. Sometimes what Julissa thought he actually meant was that he liked to show her off to his clients, co-workers, and friends.

  Michael relied on material things in his life to keep him happy and he always had to have the latest and best among all his friends and family members. And that included having the best looking female on his arm at all times. At five feet eight inches tall, Julissa stood only two inches shorter than Michael. He always told her that she had a womanly body like Beyoncé, an ass like J. Lo, and legs that went on for days. She’d grown her hair long just for Michael, just so he could run his hands through them while they were making love. Only Julissa was worried that the fire that once existed in Michael’s eyes when he looked at her was now gone.

  She yearned for that type of fire again.

  **

  When the rehearsal was over, Julissa kissed Christina and Myra goodbye and was prepared to leave, but Ed was still on her heels. Between aggressive advances from Ed and admiring looks from the handsome and irresistible Quinton, she didn’t know which way to turn. Julissa knew that a man like Quinton could never really be interested in her. Plus, her relationship with Michael was also on lock.

  “Where are you going so fast, Lissa?” Ed followed her closely out of the ballroom.

  “Home. The rehearsal is over,” she said, matter-of-factly.

  “What about dinner tonight? I know that finger food didn’t fill anyone up.”

  “Ed, how many times do I have to tell you that I cannot and will not date you?” Julissa walked faster. She knew that Michael was waiting outside to pick her up.

  “Who said anything about a date?”

  “The answer has always been no, Ed.”

  “Well, just askin’. One day you’re gonna be single again, Julissa.”

  Julissa rolled her eyes, relieved and happy that Ed had stopped following her. She was even more relieved when she spotted Michael’s familiar white Mercedes-Benz parked smack-dab in the middle of the front of the hotel entrance. It looked like two valet attendants were pointing towards regular parking and trying to get Michael to move his car from being illegally parked, curb-side. Michael wasn’t trying to budge. He was just stubborn like that.

  Julissa sighed and walked towards the car.

  To confirm her suspicions, the attendants had been pleading with Michael to move his car. “Mister, we will ask you one more time to—”

  “See, here she is!” Michael gestured towards her, as she opened the door. “I was only here for ten fuckin’ minutes.”

  As she was getting into the car, she suddenly remembered something and turned back to the sliding glass doors of the hotel entrance. Sure enough, Quinton was standing two feet away from the doorman, looking at her. She suddenly felt bad for walking out without saying anything. They couldn’t continue their conversation during the rehearsal because it would have been too difficult and maybe a little rude to everyone else.

  Quinton held up his palm and waved at her, smiling.

  She smiled back.

  “Julissa! Get your ass in here before they get security on my tail!” The barking from Michael brought her back to real life.

  She took one last look at the man who she would never get to know, slid her backside in the passenger seat, and closed the door.

  Chapter Two

  By the time Julissa and Michael arrived home, it was well into the night. The day’s events had her exhausted and ready for bed.

  Michael pressed the remote garage door opener clipped to the sun visor and pulled his Benz in their garage next to her Lexus.

  “I know it’s kind of late to eat anything heavy, but are you hungry? I could make a nice salad, if you want.” Julissa grabbed her hand bag, as Michael turned off the car engine.

  “That sounds nice, baby. Maybe a little wine to go with it to unwind before bed.”

  “You got it.”

  Julissa entered the four bedroom, four bathroom home through the kitchen with Michael behind her with a couple shopping bags. He’d purchased the home over a year ago after deciding that he was satisfied with his current career. Before moving to Atlanta to accept the job offer as an investment portfolio manager four years ago, he was living out in Washington, D.C. where he was born and raised. He moved to Atlanta on a whim hoping that it was a good move. It turned out to be an excellent move for Michael. After about two promotions, he was now making much more than some of his colleagues and had gotten numerous recognition awards for being one of the top performers in his division.

  “I’m gonna take a quick shower, Julissa. Think the salad will be ready by then?” Michael turned up a bottle of water to his face and peered at her over the top, watching her from across the kitchen as she grabbed the bowls and utensils.

  “Sure.” She watched Michael’s retreating back as he walked out of the kitchen. Michael relied on her daily for breakfast and dinner. In fact, six hours of Julissa’s day was dedicated to preparing his meals, cleaning house, and organizing. For four to five hours a day, Julissa worked her part time job as a realtor, from showing houses, going to closings, going to auctions, and listing properties. Julissa welcomed the break in daily routine when Michael went out of town numerous times a year on business. Sometimes, he was only gone for one day and other times for the week. On those days, she would tre
at herself to me-time, like a trip to the spa, or a shopping spree at the mall, or even a night cuddled up on the couch watching pay-per-view movies, eating ice cream, popcorn, and all the junk food she could think of. Even a night on the town with Christina or Shanice was expected. Although, since Christina had been engaged and with planning for the wedding, the time with her had been limited. Since Shanice was always the unattached female in the group, a night with her meant a night chasing after men.

  Julissa decided to move in with Michael at his request. They both knew that her lease on her condo was coming up for renewal and they had been talking about it. Since Julissa was already at Michael’s home 24/7 before she officially moved in, they thought it made financial sense to share a house. Julissa agreed to give it a try and moved her stuff in after her lease was up. Now their life was too much a routine to change things now. The only thing Julissa wanted to change was her title. She was already playing house, now she just couldn’t wait to be a wife.

  But it was always…After we hire someone to help me out with these new clients, I promise, we will start planning our wedding. Right now, there is too much going on at that office…

  Now months later, after he had hired two new employees under him, they had still not planned for anything and there still was no ring on her finger to prove it.

  Julissa took the salad bowl into the family room, where she knew Michael had sat down in front of the television set. She placed the bowl and glass of red wine on the coffee table in front of him and sat down beside him.

  “That concert was pretty good, wasn’t it?” Julissa pulled up her bare feet on the sofa and tucked it under her bottom.

  “Yeah.” Michael began eating the salad and wine that she had just placed before him.

  “I loved it. We should do things like that more often. How are things at the office? Are you caught up, yet?” Julissa reached out and tucked in the tag sticking out of the neck of his white tee. She let her fingers linger there for a while, rubbing and running them along the base of his neck.

  “Just about…”

  “You don’t sound like you’re too excited about it.”

  “Well, I’m glad that things are finally caught up. But, we’ve acquired a few new international clients and I foresee a trip overseas in the near future.”

  “How soon?” Julissa turned up her lips at the thought of him going away on business again. He had just returned only a week ago after being in New York for four days. Even though, Julissa loved the freedom, she didn’t like the fact that she would spend more nights alone. Now that Christina was getting married, she had a limited amount of people to turn to now to make the days go by faster.

  “Pretty soon. Probably in a matter of weeks. I won’t know anything really until the last minute.” Michael took another sip of wine, placed the glass back on the table, and picked up the remote beside it. He flipped through a couple channels, before finally turning to look at her. “Aren’t you gonna eat? I know you’re hungry.”

  “Christina had some appetizers at the rehearsal. I’m not hungry, but I could use some dessert.” Julissa placed emphasis on the word dessert, lifting her eyebrow.

  “Dessert, huh?” Michael smiled.

  “Yes, I’ve had a taste for a certain type of dessert for the past week.” Julissa leaned forward and kissed her boyfriend softly behind the ear. She traced her lips over his neck and throat.

  Michael dropped the remote and grabbed her by the waist, returning the kisses. He moved his soft hands behind her neck and pulled her in closer. His lips were warm and inviting. The back of her neck started to heat up and her body began to respond in kind. He pulled her in closer, so she ceased the moment and moved her legs over him to sit on his lap. Her pussy was directly above the bulge in his pajama pants.

  When she reached down to touch him, he stiffened and pushed her away, as if stunned by her actions.

  “You know, I just remembered something.” Michael got up, sliding her off, and stepped away from the couch. Without saying another word, he disappeared through the doors leading into their home office.

  Getting the point, Julissa straightened up her shirt and headed up the stairs. Julissa couldn’t remember the last time that she and Michael had sex and she was craving him so badly and he just didn’t understand. Apparently, sex from her was not on Michael’s mind. What could be more important in his office than making love to his girlfriend? Julissa would give an arm and a leg to find out.

  She wasn’t giving up. After a long hot bath, wearing only a pair of thong undies, she wrapped herself in a silk bath robe and walked into the master suite. She was surprised to see Michael seated on the bed, thumbing through the latest GQ magazine. Perfect. Without saying a word about what happened the hour before, she slid on the king sized bed next to him and began massaging the body oil into her legs, the robe still wrapped tightly around her body.

  Finally he looked up from his magazine. “I forgot to say thanks for the salad. It was good.”

  “You’re welcome. Did you get what you had to get done?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You didn’t finish the salad. You went to your office remember?” Julissa loosened the tie to her robe, and prepared to accept Michael’s rejection again.

  “Oh…yeah…I wasn’t in the office today. I needed to check email.”

  “Couldn’t wait ‘til Monday?” Julissa pulled the robe, partially revealing her bare shoulders, rubbing in the body oil in the same slow sensual manner that she had rubbed her legs.

  “Not really.”

  Julissa turned to face him. “What was so important?”

  “It really doesn’t matter now. I got the email answered. Why are you concerned?” He looked at her as if he didn’t know why she was so suddenly interested in his work. When he saw the expression on her face, he spoke again. “I mean…it was nothing all that important. Just something that the guy needed me to approve. I…”

  Julissa peeled out of her robe, revealing her naked body.

  He paused, and she felt his eyes roaming over her.

  “I’m listening.” Julissa poured a small amount of the rose scented body oil in the palm of her hands rubbed them together, and began massaging the oil into her arms and shoulders, as Michael watched.

  “Julissa…”

  She turned to look at him and his Adam’s apple moved up and down in his throat from swallowing too many times. Michael got the same expression on his face when he was nervous and sometimes when he was extremely turned on. Julissa looked at the bulge in his pants and confirmed that he was turned on. It was a wonder how she could have Michael erect in a matter of seconds, but still their sex life was almost depleted and they weren’t even married yet.

  “I was listening. Go on,” Julissa said, now focusing her massage on her hip and thigh area.

  “Well, I…Julissa, are you trying to…what are you—”

  “Do you mind putting some on my back?” Julissa held out the body oil to him. He took it slowly and she turned around giving him easy access to her back. The first contact of Michael’s hands to her back triggered a series of shivers up her spine.

  “Damn, you look so good, baby.” Michael’s voice was almost in a whisper as his hands moved over her back, shoulders, and neck. She felt his hot breath on the back of her neck, letting her know that he was now closer than before. “You smell good too.”

  Julissa let out a gasp when she felt Michael’s cold fingers touch her nipples from behind. Her nipples instantly hardened as he softly pinched them into little buds.

  “You want me, don’t you?” Michael whispered into her neck. It wasn’t a question, but was posed more like a statement.

  Julissa nodded her head and closed her eyes, enjoying the massage he rendered to her breasts. “Trying to seduce me?”

  His hands moved down to her thighs, where he parted them to slightly graze the apex between them. She moaned.

  “Well, it worked.” His lips were now all over her neck and shoulde
rs, kissing and licking.

  Before long, Michael was on top of her touching every inch of her body, alternatively using his lips, tongue, and hands to explore her. “Michael.”

  “Yes, Lissa, baby…”

  “I need you,” she whispered.

  “Don’t worry, baby. I’m gonna give you what you need. Just be patient.”

  When he sucked her nipple into his mouth, she almost bucked off the bed at the sensation. She hadn’t felt it in so long, she almost didn’t know how to act. She could feel her juices flowing beneath her as he used his mouth and tongue to tug on her nipples. She watched as he slid his lips down to her stomach to dip his tongue into her belly button. She arched her back, begging for more. The more he kissed her, the wetter and wetter she got.

  He lifted himself to peel out of the tee and pajamas that he was wearing, revealing soft skin lighter than caramel and dark curly hair surrounding his manhood that was the same color and texture of the hair on his head. Julissa lifted herself too and began to taste his skin. He moaned when she kissed his body with the same urgency that he had kissed hers. He groaned when she cupped his balls and began kissing around the soft curly hair that surrounded his erection. The skin was so taut on his dick, that she could see the veins popping out all around it. She slowly took him into his mouth and watched as a look of enjoyment turned into a look of pleasure. He closed his eyes and titled his head up towards the ceiling as she moved her lips and tongue back and forth over his erection.

  As she anticipated, he reached out and ran his hands through her long, thick hair, pulling, tugging, and pushing, until his pelvis and her mouth were in sync. He grabbed two handfuls of her hair and gripped the back of her head. She thought he was going to speed up his movements, but instead he pulled her forward more and she welcomed him in the back of her throat. The long moan that escaped his lips was animalistic. To her surprise, he pulled her off him and pushed her back on the bed.

  “That’s enough of that. Let me show you who’s in charge.” He grabbed his own erection and stroked it as he spoke, kneeling over her, looking down at her body as if he were a predator about to devour his prey.