PULL MY HEARTSTRINGS (COMPLETE)

36

                                

     

“Kgomotso?”
     
“Huh?” She turned her eyes on him, embarrassed that he caught her staring into space again. Dinner with Anesu didn’t distract her like she had hoped, her confrontation with Caroline was front and centre in her mind, replaying in slow motion until it was firmly burned into her memory like a bad song.
     
Her mother was back from the cruise to Namibia and didn’t look like someone who spent 2 weeks of bliss on vacation after Kgomotso came clean about everything.
     
“Would you like some dessert?” He pointed to the menu with a slight frown on his face.
     
It was painfully obvious to Anesu that Kgomotso wasn’t the same after the miscarriage and he was running out of ideas on how to fix everything, the spa day he planned didn’t seem to have helped in fact she had become withdrawn and he was afraid of losing her.
     
“Yeah, sure.” She took the dessert menu from the waiter, smiling nervously next to her. 
     
“I’ll give you two a moment.” He couldn’t wait to get away from their table.
     
She blankly stared at the menu but nothing looked enticing enough to improve her mood not even the chocolate cheesecake. There was a time when she would’ve ordered the cheesecake and end up eating more than one slice only to regret it later and force it out of her body. The thought of Anesu seeing that stopped her.
     
“Are you okay, baby?”
     
She lifted her eyes above the menu, meeting his steady gaze. She couldn’t decipher the emotions swirling in his intensely brown orbs because they were gone the moment he blinked. But like an echo they lingered, seeping into the emptiness she badly wanted to fill with cake.
     
“Yes, I’m fine.” Came her uncertain reply, she wasn’t convincing not even to herself.
     
Caroline’s vindictive words tore through her flesh and bone, stronger than any man-made weapon to inflict the worst pain in her heart. Their relationship was always complicated because even after Caroline came back into Kgomotso’s life she wasn’t able to mend the rift caused by the years she spent away. And in true Caroline fashion the finger always pointed at someone else when it came to the dire state of their relationship.
     
“Kgomotso?” He spoke with a firmness that usually intimidated his associates when they weren’t being truthful with him, but she didn’t even flinch because whatever was going on in her head seemed far more important than being present with him.
     
She sighed and closed the menu. “I’ve changed my mind about dessert, can we go home?”
     
“Sure, we can go.”
     
Dinner didn’t go how he envisioned so he was ready to call it a night and forget that it ever happened. He summoned the waiter and paid their bill, leaving a generous tip.
     
Kgomotso took off her shoes when they got to his place, she would rather be at her flat but spending the night alone wasn’t appealing, because she would rather use Anesu’s body than food to block out any thoughts of her mother. Her simple black dress followed and she changed into her silk pyjamas and covered her hair with a doek.
     
When Anesu eventually joined her in the bedroom, her teeth were already brushed and there was no trace of make-up on her face. He placed his glass of whiskey on the dressing table and stripped off his jacket, throwing it on the chaise lounge at the end of the bed.
     
From where he was standing, he had a clear view of the en-suite bathroom and he watched Kgomotso go about her nightly routine which included too many serums she didn’t need because her skin was already flawless. Her side of the sink was a clutter of perfumes he couldn’t stop buying for her, every time she came over there were new bottles amongst her organised chaos.  
     
He stood over the threshold, hands in his pockets and legs crossed at his ankles. “Don’t look down,”
     
“You’re making me nervous.” She washed her hands and turned around to face him.
     
A sad smile made its way to his lips. “Don’t be.”
     
“What’s wrong?”
     
“What must I do?” he asked, regarding her with a calm expression.
     
Why did he answer her question with another question?
     
“What do you mean?” She walked past him into the bedroom
     
He had a sneaky feeling Kgomotso knew what he was talking about but chose to act ignorant for some unknown reason.
     
“Tell me what to do to make everything right again.”
     
She busied herself with ridding the bed of the extra pillows and sat down once she was finished, patting the space next to her. He took his place beside her and anxiously brushed his thighs.
     
“There’s nothing you can do, Anesu.”
     
“That’s not true.”
     
She sighed, holding his hand in a tight grip. “This is a me thing, a lot has been going on and it feels like everything is piling up on top of each other but I need you to let me find my own way.”
     
“I don’t think I understand.” He stared at their intertwined hands.
     
“I know you were trying to help when you called ausi Daphne but I didn’t need you to interfere.”
     
“I had to do something.”
     
“I know but you didn’t have to. I love you, Anesu and sometimes I need you to just hold my hand through situations instead of trying to fix it. You have such a big heart and I love that about you but I’m not your brother who you constantly need to save.”
     
“So, are you saying I have a saviour complex?” he asked with his eyebrows raised and Kgomotso could tell he was offended.
     
“Maybe just a little bit. I want you to know that you don’t have to fix everything not only is it impossible because you’re not a superhero but sometimes you being supportive is all I need. It’s bad enough my mother thinks I tried to trap you with a baby.”
     
“She said that?” His mouth dropped open and he was unable to hide the shock from his face.
     
Kgomotso shrugged, nonchalantly. “She has said worse.”
     
“I never even entertained such a crazy idea.”
     
“I know.” She managed a tight-lipped smile. “So, please promise me you’ll stop acting like Superman.”
     
He knocked back his whiskey and returned the glass back on the table. “I thought women loved a knight in shining armour.”
     
“We do but I’m not a damsel in distress who needs saving all the time.”
     
“Okay, I understand and I’ll work on it,” he said.
     
“So, you’re not mad?” she asked, looking at him expectantly.
     
“No.” He shook his head. “I mean my ego is a little bruised.” There was a faint smile on his lips. “But I want our relationship to be a safe space so we’re both comfortable being honest with each other.”
     
“Your ego will be just fine because I love you.” She cupped his cheek and he needed a shave because his five o’clock shadow prickled against her palm. The need to touch him and feel his warmth on her skin was all too consuming.
     
“I love you, too.” He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her exposed neck and the subtle contact sent a signal straight below her waist.
    
He was already unbuttoning her pyjama top, eager to get her naked and under him. “Can I make love to you now?”
     
“Yes, you can.” She pushed the top off her shoulders and he tossed it next to his jacket.
     
This was what they were good at, allowing their bodies to take over when words failed to describe what they felt. She laid on her back and Anesu helped her out of her pants, leaving her sheer underwear on. He liked it because it left little to the imagination.
     
“You’re ready,” he whispered, pressing his finger against her moist sex.
     
She stared at him through her lashes, turned on by his skilful touch. “Then don’t make me beg.”
     
“Aren’t you an impatient little lady?” He licked his finger and got undressed, deliberately taking his time like she asked for a strip tease.
    
Hot coils of desire slowly unfurled in her stomach as she watched him, ready to jump his bones.
     
“Whoa!” She stopped him before he got between her thighs. “We need a condom, I don’t want to take a morning after pill like I did the last time.”
     
“What’s wrong with taking a morning after pill?”
     
Hai, did he have to choose this moment to be a big-headed idiot.
     
“I’m sorry but if you don’t wrap it up you’ll end up taking a cold shower. I’m not ready to fall pregnant again, Anesu.”
     
“Okay, I’ll get a condom.”
     
He slid off her underwear and slowly entered her and briefly savoured the moment once all of him was inside of her. It was an exhilarating feeling and he couldn’t get enough of.
     
Kgomotso impatiently raised her hips urging him to move and take them on a rollercoaster ride.
     
“Keep still.”
     
“Please, Anesu.” She clawed his back, breaking his flesh.
     
“I need you to be still, baby.”
     
She couldn’t break away from his bewitching gaze as he began to move, his slow strokes prolonging her pleasure.” She clamped her lip between her teeth, repressing a wanton moan.
     
“I want to hear you,” he whispered and his delicate kisses made her body shake with need.
     
“No.” She moaned, softly.
     
Kgomotso tilted her pelvis upward, forcing Anesu to thrust downward and that position spurred the tingling sensation, which was now familiar to her and she was close to reaching her peak. 
     
“Don’t be shy scream for me, baby.”  He gently grazed her nipple with his teeth and the over-whelming stimulation on her body heightened her pleasure and she wanted to hold on to it for as long as she could.
     
“Then make me cum.” She wrapped her leg around his waist and his quickened rhythm sparked a swift and unexpected build-up, sneaking down to the centre of her trembling limbs. She called out his name as she rode the wave of continual pleasure, stars bursting at the back of her eyelids.
     
“Baby.” He moaned into her ear and his whiskey mingled breath felt hot on her skin.
     
Kgomotso purred with satisfaction as the last shivers moved through her body. “You definitely didn’t disappoint.” A smile shaped her lips.
     
“I’m not done with you yet.”
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