Khalid Read online

  And then the lights in the ballroom dimmed, and the beat of the song the jockey played slowed. This would be the optimal moment for Racquel to walk away. She’d done the obligatory dance because he asked. She didn’t have to make it last longer than was necessary. But Khalid had no intention of letting her get away that easily. He had no intention of not having the conversation with Racquel that he felt was necessary if only to get clarity on why she didn’t like it. When he reached for her, gently but firmly taking her by the wrist, halting her forward movement, her alarmed eyes trailed back to him. They were wide initially, but as Khalid leveled a steady gaze in her direction, her eyes softened, and the pull against his hand relaxed. He pulled her back to him, taking the wrist he claimed and lacing it behind her back, wrapping his free hand around her waist and pulling her frame against the length of his. There was a moment where they stood there, locked in the hold Khalid had on her. She averted her eyes, refusing to look up into his, but Khalid refused to relinquish. He refused to be denied, and he stood there with her, then moved against her, compelling her body to respond, to fall in step with his. Racquel still avoided his gaze as her hips gave way to the rhythm of his movement. Her body started to sway, battling against the resolve she felt she should have not to comply.

  Khalid leaned in, lowering his lips to the edge of her ear.

  “Why don’t you like me?”

  His baritone voice cut through the noise of the music. That’s what the melody in the backdrop sounded like compared to the low register from which Khalid’s voice resonated. Racquel gasped on a breath as the heat from his mouth combined with the sultry of his voice coated her ear, assuaging her eardrum and dropping into her core. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. She wasn’t supposed to respond to this man physically. Yet, she did, and it bothered Racquel. But she wasn’t like other girls, other women who swooned behind a casual look from Mr. Ali. She wasn’t easy like any morning, let alone a Sunday morning.

  “Tuh,” she uttered against his cheek. “In order for me not to like you, I have to think about you. And I don’t think about you.”

  Racquel tried to claim her resolve back. She tried to dismiss the way Khalid’s masculine body felt pressed against hers, the strength of his arms, the way he held her. She tried to block all of that out, even his aromatics that inadvertently wafted into her nostrils. Khalid pulled her in even closer, the duo falling silent except for the way their bodies moved. She let him lead. Her frame conformed to his frame. Her body defied her despite her words.

  Her comeback made Khalid smile. She was Alpha and feisty and confident, all qualities Khalid found attractive. But coming from Racquel? It was crazy. He wouldn’t be outdone either. It was like a dance, with more than their bodies.

  “You’ve been thinking about me,” Khalid persisted tauntingly, his lips even closer to Racquel’s ear, her feminine essence intoxicating, and the feel of her exquisite form pressed against his arousing a part of Khalid he never thought would be responsive to this woman.

  “You are so full of yourself, Khalid,” Racquel countered, her breathing becoming heavier and shallow simultaneously.

  He chuckled, and his voice rumbled through her. There was a shiver that moved down Racquel’s spine, and she vibrated. Khalid felt it.

  “You might never admit to thinking about me,” Khalid hummed, pressing his lips fully against her ear, “but you dream about me.”

  Racquel’s eyes widened, and her hips stopped moving. She pulled away from Khalid’s frame, his words rocking her to her very soul. How could he possibly know? She felt the heat of his gaze against her skin. He stopped moving too, and she felt like somehow he wasn’t just talking slick or just saying anything to get a rise out of her. He said it like he knew. She didn’t want the confirmation of looking in Khalid’s eyes and seeing it there, but Racquel just had to know. Her heartbeat escalated, and she could feel an enormous turn in her stomach as her thick lashes fluttered against the melanin of her cheeks. The trail of her eyes to his was slow. When Racquel looked up into the depths of Khalid’s orbs, she saw more than she ever expected. Her reaction confirmed his inclination that it wasn’t his dream alone. They shared that intimate space in their subconscious. Suddenly, the hold he had on her took on new meaning.

  Racquel dropped her arms to her side and stepped out of his grip. The revelation was too much to deny. She had to get away from him. Khalid managed to unnerve her, and Racquel found it difficult to breathe. She started moving further away and faster. The crowd was a blur as she padded through it, sidestepping people gathered together. She had to get some air. Racquel felt like Khalid had just snatched away her oxygen supply.

  “Excuse me,” she uttered to no one in particular. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for an exit out of the ballroom. She kept moving. This whole thing wasn’t right.

  There was an urgency in Khalid that rose from his core. She moved. He followed. His long gait quickly closed the distance, and when she felt his presence nearing, Racquel moved faster. The heels of her stilettos began to echo as she moved from the carpeted to the marble floor of the hallway. There were far fewer people there, but still, there was no new air. She could hear the harder click of his heels behind her. She couldn’t get away from Khalid fast enough. Her eyes darted from side to side, trying to find a place to go. There was an alcove just up ahead with a sign over it that read ladies. That was a place she could go where he couldn’t follow. The sign might as well have read do not enter. Racquel’s feet moved faster.

  The very air around her seemed electrified, charged with an energy that heightened her awareness. He was close. She felt it. The air was weightier, her breathing began to halt, and her body started to tingle from his nearness. And just as she turned the corner to retreat into the restroom, a claiming hand grabbed her waist. There was no space between them. His touch upset her balance as the sweetly intoxicating musk of his body overwhelmed her senses. At the base of Racquel’s throat was a pulse beat that swelled as though her heart rose from its natural place in her chest to the base of where she tried to speak his name. But no sound came out of her parted lips, no sound at all. His lips slowly descended to meet hers, kissing her devouringly. She fought against the domination of his lips, pushing against his masculine chest with everything she thought she had, the desire to fight against him. Racquel determinedly tried to deny the pulsing knot that churned in her belly. But her push fell away as the pull on her loins magnified. Her mind told her to resist, but her body was woefully uncooperative, giving in to a man she swore she didn’t like. Yet his mouth tasted like the sweetest morsel of her favorite dessert. His tongue probed hers discovering the recesses of her heart, and his lips pressed unrelentingly. There was a part of her that still wanted to fight against him, to refuse to succumb to his scintillating presence, and his presence was scintillating and haunting and dangerous and undeniably sexy.

  She panted against his mouth when he gave her a second to breathe, and it was only a second before his mouth ravaged hers again with an urgency that surprisingly resonated in her soul. She returned his kiss with reckless abandon as the touch of his lips on hers sent a current of shockwaves through to her core, and then the wave hit her again. When her knees buckled, his strong arms were there to hold her up, pin her against the wall so she couldn’t escape his closeness even if she wanted to. Their history said she should want to, but once again, her body defied her again. Even though her mind and her body pulled Racquel in opposite directions, he honed in on her neck, leaving a trail of hot, seductive kisses and nibbles until he reached the place where her pulse echoed at the base of her elegant neck. He lingered there as the beat of her heart throbbed against his lips, and she panted again.

  “Stop,” she whispered against his wanton lips. She wanted to mean it. She wanted to end the betrayal of her thoughts past and present. She wanted to not like him in the heat of the moment and the curiosity of the moments before.

  “Stop, she uttered again, feeling the warmth of his exhale
against her flesh. He did. Their eyes met again. He wouldn’t push past her words. He wasn’t that kind of man. Yet, when their eyes locked and she saw the desire in his that was replicated in her own, she kissed him hungrily. Her emotions whirled like a tornado and skidded like a fast-moving car doing 360-degree circles with the brakes on. She didn’t want him to stop. She felt the press of his full-frame against hers and the push of his manhood against her belly. The knock in her yoni was so hard it made her legs quake, the desire she didn’t know was there rising so high, and so fast it couldn’t be contained. His hands fell to the thickness of her thighs, arousing her passion while his grew ever stronger. But he wouldn’t do anything she didn’t want him to do.

  “Do you want me to stop,” he breathed against her ear after recklessly releasing her lips. “I’ll stop if you want me to,” he crooned as his mouth tickled her earlobe.

  “Please,” she gasped.

  “Please what,” he tormented her, his velvety voice waxing and waning against her flesh.

  “Please, don’t stop.”

  Chapter Seven

  Khalid didn’t. He didn’t stop, and the cosmic energy that flowed between them was frightening and magical. Racquel’s body shuddered, and the wall she was pressed against wasn’t enough to keep her on her feet. The knocking in her jewel was hard and fast, and she felt her womanhood contract and release as Khalid’s tongue made her tongue dance. His breathing was labored as his manhood pressed against everything that bound him. The swell of her breasts against his chest and the sweet of her mouth entangled with his was all too right. She didn’t want to feel this from him. Racquel didn’t want to feel like this because of him. Yet, she couldn’t seem to find the strength to tear herself away. There was a single thread of connectivity being spun between them, and she wasn’t sure how to break it. Racquel wasn’t sure she truly wanted to break it.

  “I can’t,” she mouthed against his mouth as Khalid lavished her with more blistering kisses that seared a path to her soul.

  “I can’t.”

  Racquel finally found the inner fortitude to lift her hands to his massive chest and push him back, severing the connection between their lips, severing the ties that bound them in that space. Their bated breath beat against each other’s as their eyes locked in a tumultuous gaze. This time when she turned away and then moved away, Khalid didn’t follow behind her. He couldn’t. He was just as stunned by what happened as she was.

  Racquel, saw the exit leading outside and her movements took her in that direction.

  “Rocky?”

  She only paused, hearing Naomi call her name. She and Tareef entered the hallway at the same time, having seen Khalid and Racquel hastily exit the dance floor. Naomi’s eyes trailed back to Tareef. He nodded, understanding it was important for her to go after her friend. When Khalid stepped out into the hallway, Tareef saw him in his periphery. He pivoted on his heels and walked in his brother’s direction.

  “What the hell happened?”

  Khalid had no immediate response.

  “Rocky, stop,” Naomi said, trying to catch up with her. Racquel felt like she had to keep moving even though she’d crossed the threshold to outside and felt the freshness of new air strike her face. Her feet finally slowed as Naomi reached for her.

  “Damn girl,” Naomi fussed, the click of her five-inch stilettos slowing. “My feet already hurt,” she fussed.

  Racquel took in a chestful of air and then continued to inhale to her chest started to burn before pushing it out slowly through flared nostrils.

  “What happened?” Naomi asked, trying to gain Racquel’s eyes.

  “I’m ready to go,” Rocky mumbled, refusing to make eye contact with Naomi.

  “We saw you and Khalid leave together, so I knew something was up. Did ya’ll get to arguing? Where is he, and why the hell you out here?”

  Naomi watched as Racquel’s shoulders rose and fell hard. “You got your stuff? Can’t we just go?”

  Racquel finally turned enough that Naomi could see her friends face. Naomi’s brow furrowed. She couldn’t read Rocky.

  “Yeah, sure,” Naomi replied. “We can go.”

  “Yo, bro, what was up with that mad dash you and Racquel made?” Tareef asked as he got nothing but a shrug of the shoulders from his brother behind the first question. Tareef looked closer at his brother’s face. “And why are your lips shining like that?”

  “Let’s just go,” Khalid responded. He didn’t know what else to say. He felt so convicted like he’d almost gotten caught doing something wrong as a kid. And then he shook his head. Something that felt that damn good couldn’t be right.

  “You and Rocky?” Tareef asked, pushing the issue.

  “You and Naomi?” Khalid countered.

  “Hey, I told you from the jump what I was on,” Tareef affirmed. “But you and Rocky, though?” He continued as the brothers strolled toward the front door.

  “Something like that,” Khalid admitted.

  “Damn,” Tareef chuckled.

  “Let’s just go.”

  As Racquel and Naomi drove off, Tareef and Khalid exited Upstairs Atlanta and made their way to the valet station. Khalid was still trying to wrap his head around the exchange between him and Racquel. He’d never felt that kind of need before, that level of desire.

  “So tell me what happened, Quel,” Naomi coaxed after they’d gotten some distance away from the reunion festivities.

  “There’s nothing to tell,” Racquel replied, keeping her eyes straight ahead focused on the road. At least that’s what she was trying to do. Her head was still reeling from her entanglement with Khalid.

  “The hell you say,” Naomi hummed. “Something happened,” she repeated.

  “Just let it go, Naomi,” Racquel sighed. “What happened between you and Tareef? Now, that we can talk about,” Racquel replied, offering wide eyes and a curious look.

  “Not a damn nuff,” Naomi grinned. “It was going so good. Tareef was feeling me, and you already know I was feeling him. Girl, those muscles under that suit are real, you hear me? They are real. He was saying all the right things, and I was feeling all the right things, and then, we got sidetracked seeing you and Khalid’s little escape. We were keeping an eye on ya’ll on the dance floor. I was, and then I realized he was, too, wondering whether the two of you could tango without getting into a tango,” Naomi laughed at her own unfunny humor. “We didn’t know what the hell happened, whether ya’ll had got into it or what so we chased after, circumventing the moves we was putting on each other.”

  “Sorry about that, Naomi,” Racquel offered. “Didn’t mean to ruin your good time.” Racquel’s response was sincere. Naomi deserved to have fun, to be lighthearted, and enjoy herself.

  “Well, you can make it up to me by telling me what went down between you and Khalid?”

  Racquel navigated the BMW onto the interstate. She could feel Naomi staring at her with an unrelenting glare.

  “He kissed me,” Rocky finally confessed.

  “Aw shit!” Naomi sat forward in her seat, as far as the seatbelt would allow her to and leaned even further so she could see the look on Racquel’s face.

  “Was it good, Rock?”

  Her eyes narrowed as she snatched a look in her friend’s direction. The pitch of Naomi’s brow and the purse of her lips said she wasn’t buying what Racquel was putting down. Racquel shook her head, not being able to keep up the farce and trained her eyes back on the road. She relived the velvet of his kiss in that moment and made another confession.

  “Yes, it was.” It was not only an admission to Naomi but an admission to herself, one Racquel never thought she would make. Somethings couldn’t be denied, and the power, the intensity, the heightened sexual tension between herself and Khalid could not be denied, despite her best efforts. His touch impacted her. Khalid’s presence excited her. His lips seduced her, and she let them.

  Racquel was pulled from her thoughts as she saw out of her periphery her best friend brea
k out in a shimmy with sound effects and all, creating her beatbox to dance to.

  “Why you gotta act like that,” Racquel chastised. “It was a kiss. That’s it. That’s all, and it won’t ever happen again.”

  She sounded so determined.

  “Okay, let me stop playing, so you’ll listen to what I have to say,” Naomi replied, quieting the laughter. “What was your beef with Khalid?”

  “Why you use past tense?” Racquel challenged.

  “Because, I heard what your mouth said, but I’m not buying it. Therefore, past tense is appropriate.” Naomi clarified. “But don’t deflect,” she insisted. “What was the problem? What did he do that made you dislike him in school and still try to hold on to it all these years later?”

  “I don’t know,” Racquel defended. “It wasn’t one thing,” she tried to clarify.

  “Well, give me an example? Was he mean to you, did he diss you, embarrass you dismiss you, what?”

  “I don’t know,” Racquel whined. It wasn’t that she was trying to avoid Naomi’s question; that wasn’t it. She struggled to put her finger on just what it was.

  “He was just, ugg,” Racquel concluded.

  “What in the entire hell does that mean?”