She was extremely happy to be back in St. Louis. She never wanted to see Atlanta again, or the man she hated right now.

As soon as she arrived at her condo in downtown St. Louis, on Washington Ave., she did not put her suitcases away, she went straight to the shower to wash her worries away. She pulled her twists up into a bun on top of her head, undressed, and stepped in. The thought of those kisses from Leek, his hands on her, touching his body, the way he smelled, it was intoxicating. There was not enough hot water to wash his touch away, or the fact that they did not finish things.

She finished for herself. All the pent-up sexual energy she felt for Malik.

The release felt nice. She finished showering and grabbed her big, white fluffy robe. She walked barefoot over to the sliding glass door to the balcony so she could watch the traffic below her. Uneventful for a Saturday afternoon. She really did miss her city. She loved it, despite all its issues and racism, violence, and poverty.

She grew up lower middle class, with both her mother, stepfather, and three younger siblings. She was the only one with a different father, who she never really knew. He was in her life when she was younger, but quickly made an exit before she hit ten years old. It was okay, her stepfather was more like her father anyway.

Her younger siblings, she never looked at them as "half-siblings" they were her brothers and sister. She was closest with her sister Noelle-Yves, who they just called No. She was four years younger than her, so they never were in the same school except for that later part of elementary school when she was nothing but a bug-a-boo. Now they were peas in the pod.

She thought of calling her and telling her of all her adventures in Atlanta, but instead, she looked at her phone and there was only one person she wanted to call.

The man who had her heart.

"Sweetheart, you're home, you're safe? You're good?"

"Yes."

"I missed you."

She smiled, feeling almost like a shy schoolgirl. "Carter, I missed you too."

"Another day of Spring Break, what do you want to do?"

She knew exactly how she wanted to spend her last free day, and so did he, no words were needed. She quickly moved her luggage to a corner, no time to clean or get tidy, she cleaned before she left. She slathered her body with cocoa butter and did a light spray of vanilla-scented body spray. She pulled her twists down so they cascaded around her shoulders and down her back.

She brushed her teeth, flossed, and rinsed. She moisturized her face, and put on just a smidge of lip gloss, she hated crusty lips but did not like glossy ones.

She finished freshening up when she heard her front door open. That brought a smile to her face. She rushed out of her bedroom to greet the man she fell in love with nearly two years ago when she started her job teaching. He was all she cared about right now.

She jumped on him, wrapping her legs and arms around him, planting a passionate kiss on his lips.

"I see you really did miss me," Carter grinned, his arms snaked around her waist.

"I missed you so much!" She kissed him again. "I will never go on another vacation without you."

"No, you needed that, you needed to hang with your friends, be young, and have fun."

"I can have fun with you, here, anytime I want, right?"

"Yes, my love," he said, putting her down on the floor. "I go crazy when I am not with you. I wish I could spend every single night with you and hold you in my arms. I missed everything about you babe."

"Show me."

She opened her bathrobe for him, revealing nothing but her naked, glistening body. She never had any doubts with him, she knew he loved everything about her, from her dark brown skin to her small breasts, to her kinky hair and sometimes shy nature.

Immediately, he was down on his knees, doing the things she loved him to do. Satisfying her with the pleasure of his tongue. His kisses were in her most intimate place. Nothing was better.

"Mmmmm, oh Carter!" was all that could escape from her mouth.

She held his head in place, her fingers through his blonde curls, watching him devour her. Then he picked her up, held her in place, and walked with her over to the couch. He laid her back on it, then moved away, taking off his shoes, shirt, and pants as fast as he could.

Stripped down to nothing, he went back between her thighs, holding them wide as he finished her off. He did not stop till she reached ecstasy at least two times. Every time, which was his goal.

"Now show me how much you missed me, my love."

She had no problems returning the favor. He sat back on the couch and she moved down to orally satisfy him. The things she never did when she was younger were because she was the good, sweet, innocent girl who never had boyfriends. Those years were behind her.

She brought him just about to the peak and then she straddled over him so that he could slide inside of her. A few moves and he was deep inside of her where she loved him to be. She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him and he held her by the waist, helping her controlled moves over him.

"Baby, yes, you feel so good." He kissed over her neck. "I love making love to you."

"Only me?"

"Yes! Go faster, baby!"

That's where things started, and then they moved to the bedroom where he turned her doggy style and made her reach multiple orgasms. Even after that, it wasn't enough for her, she wanted more. She craved this man like no one else before.

She held him in her arms afterward, kissing all over his chest, the tawny hair so soft to her lips.

"That was the best dear," he said, rubbing the small of her back. "Maybe if you go away again without me, you can come back and be this sex kitten again. I love it."

She smiled down at him, his blue eyes glistening.

"Wasn't I your sex kitten before?"

"Yes," he said, kissing her. "But tonight was something special."

"I just wanted to show you how much I love you."

"I love you too."

He kissed her forehead and held her in his arms. She lay there, content, feeling his soft breaths against her cheek. Everything about this man was perfection to her. He was the perfect man. She could not believe she almost messed things up with a fling with Malik in Atlanta. He would never forgive her if she did something like that with another man.

"Babe," he said, shaking her a bit after she fell asleep in his arms. "I need to go."

"Why?" she asked, holding him tighter. "Why can't you stay?"

"I can't come on, you understand."

"I do but...that doesn't mean I don't like it."

He planted a kiss on her forehead. "I'll come over later this week okay? We can do this all over again."

She did not want him to leave. She held his body tighter to hers, his pale skin against her ebony skin, looked as if it was perfect art, painted on canvas. The complete opposites of each other, but they worked so well together.

"Tink." It was his nickname he sometimes called her because she was small in size compared to his larger, tall frame. As in Tinkerbelle the fairy. "What do you want me to do? Just tell me."

She was being selfish. She released him so that he could leave her. He stood from the bed, looking at her.

"Tell me what I want to hear, and I will stay."

She got out of bed and rushed into the living room to pick up his discarded clothes. He walked out of the room, took them silently, and got dressed.

"Are you okay?" he asked once he was fully dressed.

She nodded. No, she was not okay but she had to pretend.

He walked to her, wrapping his arms around her. "I love you, you know that. Tell me you know that."

"I know."

"And you love me?"

"More than anything."

"Well, we will figure this out. I promise." He kissed her one last time before picking up his phone and his keys. "Goodnight November."

She watched her man walk out of the door instead of staying the night with her. Just because she understood why did not mean she didn't like it. Some people would never understand their relationship, so for now, it was still under wraps.

He was older.

He was white.

And he was married.