Brief Intermission: A Novella Read online

  His bedroom was decorated in light colors just as his living room was. You’d think his home would be dark because he always dressed in dark clothes, but it was the complete opposite. Jace would always say the light colors in his homes helped keep his mood light. I wasted no time sitting on the edge of his bed and taking my shoes off. Since we had a clothing and stiletto boutique, we agreed to always look our best – even if that meant putting on six-inch pumps with leggings or sweats.

  No matter how we felt, we always had to have something from the boutique on to promote ourselves. Massaging my foot, I grimaced, knowing they would be just as sore if I went out tomorrow like I planned to. As painful as some of my shoes were, I absolutely loved wearing them and getting pretty. Hell, I’d put on a dress and heels to cook… unless it was soul food.

  Mama used to always tell me you had to dress ugly to cook soul food. I don’t know what the hell my grandma told her or showed her, but she’d always wrap her hair up, throw on a holey, big shirt, and some long ass socks or house shoes to cook soul food. When I first moved out on my own, I didn’t keep the habit, but my food didn’t start tasting right until I cooked it in an oversized shirt or robe with my hair under a scarf and some thick socks or house shoes.

  I’m sure it was all in our heads, but it was a tradition, and it worked.

  “How long were you at the boutique?” he asked, squatting in front of me.

  “Since six,” I replied before moaning. He’d replaced my hands with his and started to massage my foot. The act was almost orgasmic within itself. So much so that I quickly slipped my peach bodycon mid-thigh dress over my head so I could lay back and really enjoy it on his bed.

  “Sells are good?”

  Smiling, I nodded softly. We were just in such a rush to fuck, now that was the furthest thing on our minds. That was typically how things worked with us – we could talk about and literally do anything together. For a while I tried to convince myself that it was just lust… just sex… just a toxic passion that would eventually fade. It didn’t help that there were so many people in both of our ears telling us what we had wouldn’t last.

  People feared the unknown something serious.

  Because they hadn’t seen love at first sight or even a connection that was built as quickly as ours, they questioned it.

  “Yes. We have a few returning customers and some who do referrals. But because of our prices we’re still struggling to find our tribe.”

  “That’s cool. Take your time with it. Don’t ever devalue your brand just to bring in a quick dollar. Force them to level up to shop with you, it’ll pay off in the long run.”

  That was exactly how I felt, though Ava had been wanting to drop our prices for the past three months. I agreed to consider it by May, that way, we could drop them in time for a summer sale.

  “You’re right. Now I just have to convince Ava and Evan of that. He’s only agreeing with her because he wants to see a quick return on his investment. Sometimes I hate I agreed to let him help us. I keep trying to tell him that the clothing business isn’t like the companies he usually does business with. We have high months and low months, even while still trying to find our footing.”

  “You got it, though. I believe in you.”

  “Like I believe in you. And I’m so fucking proud of you, Jace. For real. This isn’t even the end for you. The sky isn’t even the limit for you. I see you doing plays, films, tv shows… I’m so excited about your future.”

  He chuckled quietly as he released my foot. “Our future,” he corrected, heading for the master bathroom.

  Sitting up, I looked around his room, smiling at the sight of the balloon I’d given him for his birthday in January. It was in the corner of his room folded up since all the air had gone out of it. Once he’d cut the water off, I asked, “Why haven’t you thrown the balloon away yet?”

  He looked back at it as he walked back over to me. “You gave it to me, why would I throw it away?”

  Twisting my mouth to the side, I waited until he sat down next to me to wrap my arm around his. “You mean to tell me you have everything I have ever given you?”

  “I do.”

  “Everything?”

  Nudging me softly with his shoulder, Jace nodded. “Everything.”

  “Why?”

  He looked away, muttering under his breath. The question had aroused something within him that masked the confident man that had brought me back into his room… and I was anxious to know what it was.

  “Don’t matter.”

  Leaning forward to catch his eyesight, I countered with, “Does to me.”

  Jace turned his head in my direction. “While we were together, I kept things because I wanted to have something to remember you by when we couldn’t be together. Now… I keep them to treasure the time we had together just in case it never happens again. I’m confident as hell in my ability to love you, but I can’t force you to give me a second chance knowing I once hurt you.”

  “It wasn’t intentional,” I found myself reasoning… unsure of why.

  “Still. I hurt you. And I can sweep that shit under the rug and try to downplay it by covering it with love… I hurt you.” Jace stood. “And that was yet another reason why I don’t deserve you.”

  I wanted to tell him that he’d always deserved me, but this wasn’t what I’d come here for. We weren’t supposed to be getting back together, I was supposed to be cutting him off for good. A lot was riding on my relationship with Evan. My boutique, my finances, and his ability to gain full custody of his children. At one point, when they were happy and in love, I believe his baby mama was a good mother. Now, she’d become a living nightmare… using her children in every way possible to make his life hell.

  But she was smart and subtle with her manipulation, which was why I’d agreed to marry him in hopes that his lawyer’s suggestion would work.

  “You deserved me then and you deserve me now.” I began to put on my shoes. “And if I weren’t trying to get re-engaged, maybe tonight could have ended in a different way. We can’t see or talk to each other anymore, Jace. Okay?”

  Standing, I took his hand into mine.

  “Just… answer one question for me… truthfully.” I nodded and inhaled a deep breath. “Is Evan really the man you want to spend the rest of your life with?”

  Before I thought about it fully I said, “It’s complicated.” Scratching my nostril, I rocked from my toes to my heels as I thought of what else I wanted to say. “He’s… a version of the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, but I can’t say that he’s exactly it. Like, there are things about him that I want in my husband but there are things within him that I can do without.”

  “Then why would you marry him?”

  I squeezed the back of my neck and exhaled a hard breath. “He’s a good partner. This is beneficial for the both of us. I have something to offer him to kind of balance out all that he’s offered me.”

  “Do you love him?” I opened my mouth to say yes. “More than you love me?” I closed my mouth to avoid saying no.

  “I don’t think I’ll love anyone more than I love you.” I knew I’d fucked up the moment that slow smile began to crawl across his face. “But… that… it doesn’t… love isn’t everything, Jace. You taught me that.”

  “You’re right.” His hands went to my hips. “Love isn’t everything, but it’s a damn good foundation. And I’ve learned since we’ve been apart that a relationship can thrive without a lot of things… but it won’t ever be able to thrive without love.”

  “So what does that even mean?”

  His smile turned into a chuckle as his pointer finger tilted my head by my chin. “It means I love you, and I’m going to have you.”

  “Jace,” I called firmly, closing my lips around his when he lowered himself to me. “Jace,” I ordered, closing my lips around his when he kissed me again. “Jace,” I whimpered, weakening against him when he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth. “Jace,” I begged, wr
apping my arms around his neck before he stuck his tongue inside my mouth.

  Our tongues swirled around each other as he lifted me into the air, circling my legs around him. A sense of urgency drove him as he carried me to his bed. I felt it just the same, recklessly pulling his shirt over his head after he gently dropped me down onto the bed. It had always been way too easy to get lost in the way he looked at me. Handled me. Spoke to me. Just that quickly… any thoughts I had of leaving were gone and replaced with a desire to stay forever.

  I hadn’t even been able to remove his shorts and boxers before he was pushing my panties to the side and sliding his tongue between my bottom set of lips. He moaned as I released a satisfied sigh. Lifting my hips, I fed him more of my pussy as I watched him devour me. And hide his tongue inside of me. Each time he slurped my clit into his mouth my back arched off the bed.

  His hands went to my breasts, teasing my swollen nipples just as slowly as he lapped up every drop of wetness that poured from me.

  Spreading my legs wider, I closed my eyes as my body began to heat. While I thoroughly enjoyed the sight of my cum coating his mouth and beard, the satisfying sensation of his slurping, licking, and tongue fucking was overwhelming me. My toes began to curl, and Jace gripped my thighs to keep my legs spread wide.

  The moment my spine began to tingle my eyes popped back open. Looking down at him, I cupped the back of his neck to keep him where he was on my clit. He was alternating between licking it with the fullness of his tongue and caressing the tip under my hood with the tip of his tongue. My head flung back as my walls tightened.

  “Still think she ain’t mine?” he taunted before wrapping my thighs around his neck.

  I wasted no time squeezing as he continued to lick until my orgasm claimed me. Jace fooled me. I thought he was done, but he slid his middle finger inside of me and continued to please me with his mouth until I came two more times. By then, my clit was so tender I was begging for the dick.

  As he walked over to his nightstand to retrieve a condom, Jace licked my cum from his fingers. He ran his hand over his mouth and down his beard with a cocky grin before opening the condom and sheathing himself with it.

  He crawled between my legs and wrapped them around him as he stared into my eyes. Ripping my panties off, Jace stared at my still glistening pussy.

  “You couldn’t just take them off like a normal person?” I teased, taking him into my hand and putting him at my opening.

  “You mine too. You know that, right?”

  The depth… the surety… the authority in his voice… I couldn’t deny him… even if I wanted to.

  Jace slowly made his way inside of me, keeping me from answering him right away. His pushed my left leg back so that my ankle was by my ear while the right remained wrapped around him. Angling me slightly to the left, he filled me with a long stroke that took my breath away. Biting down on my trembling bottom lip, I looked down at the combination of us and watched as his dick grew glossy from my wetness.

  “Right, Sasha?”

  I’d gotten so caught up in how good he felt that I forgot what the hell we were even talking about. Meeting his eyes, I moaned as I lifted my arms and squeezed the pillow above my head.

  “You mine too, right?”

  His strokes were slow, deep, and hard – just the way I liked. I felt every inch of him all over me. My mouth hung open slightly as I lifted my hips to match his strokes.

  “Right,” I confessed. “I’m yours.” Hell, I was whatever he wanted me to be as long as he continued to stroke me.

  And he did – for so long that I lost count of how many positions we changed and how many times we came.

  By the time we were done, he’d switched three condoms, and my pussy was sore as hell.

  But I wouldn’t have traded any moment that we’d shared as we soaked in the bathtub together.

  Because the truth of the matter was… we were over for good… and no amount of good dick could change that.

  2

  The Beginning

  We were awakened by a shrill siren blasting outside. Soon after, the sound of a man’s voice through a microphone was heard. In the beginning, I couldn’t really make out what he was saying because I was still half asleep, but when he said to not leave your home, I shot up right out of the bed. Shaking Jace awake, I leaped from the bed to look out of his bedroom window.

  My heart literally skipped a beat at the sight of several police cars lining the street. Jace joined me, and we listened as he repeated his message – the city was under a minimum two-week lockdown and we were not allowed to leave our homes. If we did, we would be fined and taken to prison. And honestly, that probably depended on the color of your skin and what officer or National Guard apprehended you. All they needed these days was the smallest reason to shoot a black person.

  “What the fuck is going on?” I asked more so to myself than to Jace.

  “You know they were threatening to lock the city down if people didn’t stop rioting and shit.”

  “Well, yes, but they didn’t say when.”

  Stepping away from the window, I went to the nightstand to grab my phone. With the coronavirus epidemic, our city suffered in ways we weren’t prepared for. It wasn’t the virus itself that caused havoc but the aftermath. The fact that so many people were quarantined for so long without leaving their homes. Without work. Without physical connection from those they needed it from or too much time with those they needed to be away from.

  As soon as the quarantine was lifted, there was a spike in robberies and murder. Homelessness and debt too. So to combat that, for whatever reason, the Mayor threatened to lock the entire city down if those that were rioting and committing crimes didn’t get their shit together. The last I heard about it was two days ago, but I didn’t think it would actually happen. We’d just gotten over one disaster; I wasn’t expecting there to really be another.

  Both Jace and I went through the notifications, new flashes, calls and texts from our phones. With my battery dying and him having his WIFI off and phone on do not disturb, we had no idea that the city shut down at midnight last night.

  After calling my family and friends to let them know that I was okay, I stepped out of the room to call Evan. He didn’t answer but he called right back.

  “Hey,” I answered, hoping my soft and calm tone would cause him to be at ease.

  “Where the hell have you been, Sasha? I’ve been worried sick about you.”

  “Sorry, my battery died like two hours before we closed last night, and I forgot my charger.”

  “Where are you? I called Ava and she said you didn’t come home last night. Your parents don’t know where you are…”

  “I’m at Jace’s place.” Since he didn’t reply, I continued as I leaned against the wall. “I stopped by last night to tell him that we couldn’t be friends anymore and lost track of time. By the time I woke up the lockdown had already begun.”

  Evan sighed heavily into the phone. “Why were you there past midnight?” He chuckled. “Of all the people for you to get stuck with, it’s him.”

  “Don’t start with that shit, okay? I told him last night that I was going to do whatever I had to do to be with you. So chill.”

  He was silent for a while, giving me time to push myself off the wall and head back to Jace’s room.

  “I don’t like this shit, but I guess there’s really nothing I can do about it. I’ll talk to you later, Sasha.”

  “Evan…”

  That bastard hung up the phone in my face! Growling, I stormed my way back into Jace’s room to find him nonchalantly taking a t-shirt and shorts out of his drawers. His Ethika boxers were already laid out on the bed, and I couldn’t help but imagine myself washing him down in the shower just to get him dirty all over again. Shaking those thoughts out of my head, I leaned against the dresser and crossed my arms over my chest.

  “Are you prepared for this lockdown? Will me being here fuck up your food and shit?”

  Hi
s head shook. “I’m more than prepared. I got enough food to last us at least a month. When the coronavirus hit, I learned to stay ready so I don’t ever have to get ready. There’s quite a bit of food in my deep freezer. We’ll be good.”

  I nodded and tried to calm down, but the longer I thought about being trapped here with him the more my heart began to race. My breathing grew choppy and ragged as my chest heaved.

  “I don’t have my pussy packet. My soaps and shit. My facial kit. I don’t even have a toothbrush. No clothes. I can’t wear this dress every day for two weeks. And what if this lasts longer?”

  My throat began to close as my body shook. Before I could slide down the dresser, Jace was picking me up and carrying me to the kitchen. He sat me on the kitchen table and grabbed a lemon before telling me to, “Bite it.”

  “Wh– no.”

  Shaking my head rapidly, I clutched my chest as I began to feel dizzy. His right hand took hold on my jaw and he squeezed until I opened my mouth. Jace stuck the lemon into my mouth, forcing me to bite through the skin even though I really didn’t want to. As soon as the tart juice began to shoot through my mouth it became my immediate focus. Our impending doom was the least of my concerns.

  All I could think about was how sour that damn lemon was.

  Before I knew it, my body was no longer shaking, my heartrate had returned to normal, and I could breathe in and out deeply.

  “You good?” he asked softly, staring into my eyes.

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  “Nothing bad is going to happen, aight? I got you.”

  All I could do was nod and inhale another shaky breath as my eyes watered. Maybe I was with the person I was supposed to be with for this.

  “Okay.”

  Jace took my hand into his and led me out of the kitchen and into the guest bathroom. He pulled a large box out of the closet, and as soon as I realized what was inside, I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry. All of my favorite products were inside – from toothpaste to deodorant to pussy wash. The only thing I’d switched was the hair products because I’d cut my hair since we were together, but I could still make what he had work.