Side Dishes - Ch. 10

Delane called Sage at the hotel three days later - after her sizable check had cleared the bank, of course - to set up a time to talk. Although she had given him the car and jewels, he still hadn’t trusted her check not to bounce or trusted her motives for returning those things. After all, she was Sivilla’s daughter and had been well trained in the art of manipulation. Furthermore, the fact that Sage had chosen to stay in the hotel of their first date seemed very suspicious, very suspect to Delane.

Being in such close proximity to their meeting place, Sage arrived ten minutes early and settled at a small, white-clothed corner table to wait for Delane at the exact same restaurant they’d had their first public date in. Although she could have chosen many other hotels to stay in and countless other restaurants to have their meeting in, she’d chosen this one because it was special to her and because what she had to tell Delane tonight was just as special, if not more.

During her wait, Sage noted that the restaurant still looked the same. Chandeliers were still elegantly hung every second table, the red Persian carpet was still plush and free of debris, most of the tables were still intimate two-seaters with the four-seaters near the center of the room, and most of the patrons were still well-dressed people with wealth as their only form of substance.

Although appreciative of her plush surroundings, Sage quickly grew tired of witnessing the same superficiality she’d seen in wealthy people before. As a result, she sought a connection with a real person. Thinking that Delaney was as real as they came, she got on the phone and called her son. Unfortunately, the child was already asleep and Sage could only talk to his godmother. Fortunately, Shari was a genuine person as well and served as a great substitute.

“Girl, that boy is knocked out,” Shari whispered in the phone as she looked in on her godson as he slept in the extra twin bed in her youngest daughter’s room. Delaney might be sleeping in a white decorative girls’ bed, but the football sheets he’d begged his mother to let him bring from home gave the bed his own special flavor.

“Forgive me, girl. I keep forgetting about the time change from the east coast to the west,” Sage said to Shari, recalling that it was now after 10pm in Georgia. “I guess I’ll have to talk to my man in the morning then. Tell him that I love him very much and can’t wait to see him again,” she concluded. Sage was unaware that Delane had walked up at that exact moment and heard the tail end of her conversation just before she hung up the phone.

So she has a man, huh? I wonder if he can make her toes curl with ecstasy like I can? Delane mused, suddenly feeling hot jealousy course through his veins as he vividly recalled how Sage used to respond to his lovemaking. How she used to melt at his touch. How she used to passionately cry out his name while begging for more of his love. At times, Sage had even cried actual tears to express how deeply moved she’d been by their passionate union.

Suddenly Delane had an idea that quickly drove all jealousy away. As soon as he sat down in the hand-carved renaissance chair across from her, he proposed that idea to Sage. “Although I have no idea what you’re going to tell me, I was wondering if we could have our talk up in your room where it’s more private,” Delane suggested in the same professional tone that he used at work.

Sage shrugged. “Okay,” she said, not really having a problem with that change of plans. Although she knew that he didn’t trust her to pour water on him if he was on fire, she still trusted him completely. Delane was a true gentlemen with a really good heart. He wouldn’t hurt a fly unless seriously provoked as in the case of Dr. Stefan Matlock. Surely five years couldn’t change that.

********

In her modest suite compared to some of the others in the luxury waterfront hotel, Sage soon discovered just how much Delane had changed. As soon as they were seated at the small glass table on the east side of the room, his professional persona was dropped and his eyes became ablaze with passion, causing them to look like soft caramel candy.

“Over the years I’ve made it a point of practicing complete honesty with everyone I meet, especially the women. However, in your case, I’ve found that you like a bit of deception to spice things up which is why I lied about wanting to talk in a more private setting. What I actually want to do is have a little private rendezvous with you,” Delane confessed in a husky voice that was laced with desire. It seemed to be oozing from his pores as he openly perused Sage’s shapely frame more closely in the multi-colored ruffled skirt-set she wore. And if desire were a fragrance, the air would be thoroughly saturated with its spicy scent.

Instead of being afraid or put off by his newfound aggressiveness, Sage discovered that she liked it. Especially since it was clear that Delane would still wait for her consent before acting on his desires. Why else would he still be sitting in that chair like a gentleman, clenching the armrests in anticipation as he waited for her response? A man that planned to do her any real harm would have tackled her by now and just taken what he wanted.

“Delane, although I admit that the attraction between us is still there, I did not come to town to have a private rendezvous with you,” Sage contended, despite the fact that her voice sounded breathless, despite the fact that she was aching for him to touch her.

“It’s not only still there, I’d say it’s stronger than ever,” Delane replied, reaching across the table for one of her soft, trembling hands. Feeling her racing pulse and seeing the thick desire in her ebony eyes only confirmed his statement.

“Delane…” Sage began, attempting to keep her head clear; knowing that one kiss from him would send her mind into a thick fog.

“No, I don’t want to talk right now, Sage. I want to feel. In fact, I want to feel you. And I want you to feel me,” he said, standing to his feet and pulling her up with him.

Then reaching for her other hand, Delane drew them both to his muscular chest and began to let Sage feel the changes in his body through the white button down shirt he wore. He watched her eyes gloss over with passion as her fingertips cascaded down the rippling muscles of his torso.

When Delane heard her moan, he smiled down at her, revealing that delicious dimple in his right cheek. “Feels differently, don’t it? Many women like it.” But none of them I have liked as much as you, he added to him, determined not to give Sage anything to use against him later, including any stray words of affection.

Hearing that he’d been with many other women since their divorce, did something wicked to Sage. It made her want to prove to Delane that she was superior to the rest. That she was the only woman that could ever truly appreciate his body since she’d loved it when it was bigger and less socially acceptable. There was no telling how much she would adore it now that it had less than five percent body fat.

“But do any of those women really know what you like?” Sage asked as she stepped out of her shoes. Then draping her arms about Delane’s neck, she began to move against him in a barefoot, slow hula motion, working her hips in that familiar rhythm that he’d grown to love and appreciate. It was the same rhythm that had Delane moaning with pleasure right now and hungrily seeking her lips.

As on their honeymoon, Delane and Sage soon began to go at each other like two love-starved people. She unbuttoned his shirt; he unbuttoned her blouse, both trying to feel more of the other. When Sage began to move even more sensually against him, Delane countered those rhythms. With each return movement, he allowed her to feel just what she’d been missing for five years.

Sage moaned loudly from that reminder as his hungry hips continued to move against hers. This new version of Delane was going to greatly enhance the dreams she constantly had of the old Delane. Still needing to feel more of him, Sage pulled Delane towards the queen-sized cherry-wood poster bed on the south side of the room so that she could straddle him. As soon as she lowered her body to his for an even greater affect, he became vocal, letting out a loud moan before speaking intelligible words.

“Baby, you sure haven’t lost your touch over the years,” Delane whispered hoarsely as his eyes fluttered open and closed with exhilaration at the hungry way Sage was moving upon him. Even though she was still fully clothed as she sat in his lap with both legs on either side of him, the suggestive way she worked her agile hips let him know that she still had the ‘it’ factor, which was simply the ability to drive him clear out of his mind with desire.

This was the kind of passion Delane had been looking for, the kind that his body had been craving all these years. Sage had spoiled him sexually and this heated moment proved it because he hadn’t been this excited in years. As a result, Delane made up his mind that although he would never make her his wife again, she would be at the head of his sexual calendar. Sage would now be the woman he gravitated to the most instead of Petra. She would be the woman Delane went to in order to keep his urges under control.

“And you haven’t seen nothing yet,” Sage replied as she turned around in his lap and began to move against him again with her back now facing his chest. The loud moans and groans in her ear, and the way Delane held her closer to him let her know that she’d struck gold in pleasing him.

“Keep it up, baby, and I’m going to make you forget all about that man on the east coast,” Delane said as his hands reached around to caress her double D-sized supple treats through the black lacy material containing them.

How fine can one woman get? he mused as he realized that Sage’s bosom had only gotten suppler over the last five years. He couldn’t wait to send his mouth where his hands were. Delane couldn’t wait to do a lot of things with and to Sage.

© 2006 Suprina Frazier