Kai Does Red…Again
Kiini Ibura Salaam
Kai felt a hand nudge her in the small of her back. She turned to see Red standing there, grinning like a jack-o’-lantern, a Cheshire cat, or anything with more teeth than mouth. She smiled, then looked away, knowing he would want to know where was that phone call she had promised him when he was deep inside her making her gasp for breath and hold down the sounds that she knew would wake her roommates. Over his shoulder, she could see the bodies humping and jerking on the dance floor. He waited silently as she pushed her hair back and fastened her eyes on his chest. She felt him searching her face for answers as her eyes wandered down his body, stopping finally at his feet.
“Look at those shoes,” she said.
“D’ya like them? They’re so comfortable,” he said, eyes pleading, mouth still cracked in two.
“They’re kind of strange,” she said and paused. Her gaze left the shoes, ran up his legs, and hovered over the flat brown stomach peeking out beneath his shirt. “But I like your pants.”
“My shoes, my pants. Woman, is that all you have to say?”
Kai threw a darting glance into the expectation hovering over his face, then tilted her face up to the ceiling. She shrugged her shoulders and shifted uncomfortably. He continued grinning. She could feel his energy reaching for her, could feel the tension radiating from his body. She leaned back and rested her hip against the bar. A skinny, glossy girl with a lit cigarette and an overflowing cosmopolitan wedged her way between them. Red grabbed Kai by the waist as soon as the girl had slithered past. His hands on her waist were solid and confident, as they had been when he was dragging her across her futon, lifting her knees, spreading her open, guiding her into one position after another. Kai obeyed the pressure of Red’s hands and squeezed through the sweaty crowd. Situating herself in a quiet corner near the restroom, she turned to face Red with crossed arms and raised eyebrows.
“Talk to me,” Red said.
Kai looked straight into his eyes and said nothing. How do you tell a man his dick is sweet but you don’t quite like the rest of him? A smirk slipped over her lips as her mind maniacally worked through phrases and explanations.
“Kai,” Red said.
Kai snapped out of her thoughts and focused on Red again. His dark chocolate skin, his glimmering eyes, his wide grin, the disarming energy that overwhelmed her—all threatened to swallow her whole.
“Listen, what happened last week was good, but it was… totally…unexpected, and I thought I’d just let it ride.”
The words came slowly, in hesitant spurts, then tumbled out in a quick jumble of words.
“What do you mean, let it ride?” Red asked, gently hooking his finger into the front pocket of Kai’s jean skirt.
“I mean,” Kai said, letting out a heavy breath, “let it be a one-time thing.”
Red drew away from her, his bright eyes momentarily falling dark.
“You mean not do it again?”
Kai shook her head.
“But it was good, Kai, too good. You trying to tell me you wasn’t feeling it?”
“I was feeling it, I was. I….”
Kai broke into a smile and stepped away from Red.
“What’s up, baby? How you?” she asked, giving a short, dreadlocked man a hug.
“Chillin’,” he whispered, placing a kiss full on her mouth. “You’re looking scrumptious.”
“Thanks, baby.”
Kai could feel Red’s frustration building behind her. She turned and rested her hand on Red’s wrist. Her other hand was linked in the crook of Bey’s elbow.
“Red, Bey. Bey, this is Red.”
Bey grunted a nondescript greeting in Red’s direction. Red crossed his arms and slid a hard glance over Bey’s body.
“Alright sis, I see you’re busy,” Bey said, returning Red’s challenge with a brief display of menace.
Kai let a guilty smile slip across her lips.
“I’mma be at the other side of the bar, so come check me when you’re done,” Bey said, dismissing Red with a flick of his eyes.
“Yeah, a lil later,” she murmured and watched Bey saunter away.
“Kai, I don’t get you,” Red said as soon as Bey was out of earshot.
Kai whipped around to face Red.
“What?”
“You chasing after niggas who won’t give you the time of day. That dude was in here ignoring you the night I met you. I’m all up in your ass and you don’t want nothing to do with me.”
Kai leaned back and put her hands on her hips.
“I don’t know you, Red. I spent one night with you. One.”
“And how many nights you spent with him?”
Kai let out an irritated sigh.
“What’s your point?”
Kai didn’t hear Red’s point. While he was arguing his case, she felt a hand squeeze her shoulder. She turned and dropped a little exclamation of delight from her lips. Red watched as Kai fell into some man’s embrace without even saying, “excuse me.” Her head was tilted back as she giggled, laughing flirty words into this new man’s ear, behaving as if Red wasn’t in the middle of a conversation with her. Behind Kai’s back, Red nodded a cold greeting to the stranger. The stranger raised his eyebrow and inclined his head just briefly enough for Red to know that he had seen him. Within seconds Red could hear the man saying good-bye. As soon as the stranger turned away, Red grabbed Kai by the arm and dragged her into the restroom. He slammed the door and locked it.
“So you don’t want to fuck with me?” Red asked.
“No,” said Kai. “I don’t.”
Red turned away from Kai and hung his hands on top of his head. Kai leaned against the door and trained her eyes on the dirty vinyl floor.
“Kai, I done slept with a million women, so I know what it’s like when it’s good. I know when I find somebody who can really ride with me, and you take me there, Kai. The way you were riding me….”
Kai held up her hand for Red to stop. Visions of her sitting on Red’s lap, one foot on the restroom trash can, the other hugging the porcelain of the toilet, invaded her mind. Red saw the look on her face and moved in close.
“You were with me, Kai, I can see it on your face. Why are you denying it?”
Kai wouldn’t speak. She let her eyes drift up to Red’s. His face hovered just inches from hers. In the silence, she felt his hands go to her waist, his mouth go to her throat. She let out a breath of tension.
“Red, just stop.”
Red pulled his lips away from Kai’s neck.
“Kai, you know you like it.”
“I like it, OK. I like it. Does that make you feel better?”
“No, you know what would make me feel better?” Red asked as he ran his hand up the front of Kai’s skirt, his fingers nestling in the fold of Kai’s thighs before barely brushing between her legs.
Kai pushed Red’s hand away from her body.
“Red, I’m not going to lie to you. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed fucking you. I still think about it. Daily. But….”
“But what?”
“But….” Kai paused and looked up into Red’s face. “But you’re not a package.”
Red stepped back and stared at Kai from a distance.
“A package? What are you talking about?”
“Relationship material. ‘The one.’ I’m trying to be in a relationship. Kicking it ain’t gonna get it no more.”
Red dismissed Kai’s words with a wave of his hand. He leaned his hand on the door next to Kai’s ear. She could feel the heat from his wrist radiating on her neck. For a moment everything was still. Kai stared into the shine dancing in Red’s eyes, barely breathing as he leaned into her, chest brushing against the tips of her breasts. Then she felt the full weight of him, pressing against her body, pushing her spine against the restroom door. She shifted under his hips and cleared her throat.
“Sex isn’t everything, Red,” she mumbled, trying to pretend that her skin wasn’t burning, that her heart wasn’t pounding, that a throb wasn’t building from between her legs to her navel.
“Right now it is,” he whispered as he ran his fingers over her bare arm. A tingle sprang up under his touch. The tingle was quickly replaced by sudden sparks of pain as Red bit into her arm. Kai groaned and arched her back, grinding her belly into his waist. He slipped his hands under the back of her shirt and pulled her closer. C’mon, baby, his eyes said, let’s fuck now. Kai leaned her forehead against his chin.
“You have a condom?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
Kai looked into Red’s face as if searching for the truth. Red grinned eagerly.
“You better not be lying to me. I don’t care how hard you get, I ain’t fucking you without a condom.”
“I got one, I swear.”
“Red,” Kai said and pushed him away, “why are you doing this?”
“Because your pussy is sweet,” Red said and slipped his hand under her skirt, squeezing Kai behind her knee, “and I got to get back up in there.”
Kai’s eyes flickered closed momentarily as Red’s tongue darted over her ear. She grabbed his face and held it still.
“You know I’m still not gonna call you after this. And you won’t see me till I feel like coming back here.”
Red brushed his fingers across Kai’s mouth.
“Shhhhhhhh,” he said and opened his arms.
Kai bit her lip. She pushed her face against his chest and wound her arms around his torso in silence. He folded her in his arms and squeezed her tightly. She could feel the blood racing though her body. Red picked her up and placed her on the edge of the sink. She pulled his shirt up, lightly scratching his chest as she bared his skin. She licked his nipples and whispered her final acquiescence.
“You…bringing…this…on…your…self.”
She gasped greedy, sucking breaths as Red nipped at her breasts and unhooked the clasp on her bra. She wanted him inside her, didn’t really care for his heavy-handed foreplay, had no interest in sharing the sweetness of lingering kisses with him. She could feel the tingling fullness swelling between her legs and didn’t need his touch to coax her body into readiness. As he squeezed her nipples between fumbling fingers, she waited. Returned kisses and waited. Ran her hands up the muscles in his back, let her breath stutter in her chest as heat swelled in the small, dirty, bar restroom. Dug her fingernails into his skin and waited. As he mashed against her clitoris with the force of a wrecking ball, she waited. When she couldn’t wait anymore, she unbuckled his pants and reached inside his boxers. She wrapped her hand around his flesh, which was already hard, and massaged and jerked until she could feel it grow in length and width.
They both jumped when a pounding sound vibrated from the door.
“Someone’s in here!” Kai yelled.
In the silence she kissed Red on the cheek and opened her hand.
“Where is it?” she asked.
“What?”
“The condom?”
“Oh.” He motioned to his back pocket.
Kai reached around him, searching for the small packet. It was there as he had promised. With his tongue tickling her hip, Kai ripped open the wrapper of the condom with fingers and teeth. She pushed him away from her waist. He stood, arching his pelvis forward, as she rolled the condom onto his penis. It only went on halfway; Kai arched an eyebrow in anticipation.
Red pulled her off the sink and guided her to the wall. She put her hands up and fell forward, the force of him hastening her movements. He lifted the hem of her long jean skirt and gathered it around her waist. She heard a moan rush from his throat. She could almost feel his eyes lingering over the round, fleshy curves of her bare buttocks.
“No underwear, Kai?” he whispered.
She didn’t answer. Instead she backed into him, rubbing herself all over his pelvis. He pushed her back to the wall. He bent his knees and nestled his penis between her legs. She tilted her pelvis back and rocked him inside of her. She felt his hand grasp her shoulder, the other hold her waist. They rocked, jerked, and glided themselves sweaty. As Kai felt her breath, her energy, her pleasure ascending, she heard banging at the door again.
“One minute,” Kai whispered so low that only Red could hear her. Then she yelled it. “One minute!”
The pounding on the door stilled.
“I want you spread out,” Red was whispering as they banged themselves into a frenzy. “I want to be on top of you.”
His words went straight to her gut. Kai remembered what it was like to be spread out, remembered how she couldn’t breathe when he got close to orgasm. The force of him, fully aroused, about to explode, pushing his all as deep into her as he could. Suddenly, it was swelling inside her—the memories of the all-night-till-morning session from two weeks ago, the pounding on the door, the present madness she and Red were stirring up—and she began to tremble. An orgasmic seam of pleasure opened up inside her pelvis and shot through her body. It came out in an involuntary burst of breath and sound as she felt sweet satiety seep into her muscles. She felt Red shivering behind her and heard his vibrating moan. Then the banging started again.
“We’re coming!” she yelled, then covered her mouth. “Now they know it’s more than just me in here,” she giggled. She rested her head on the wall to catch her breath as Red let out a postorgasmic groan. Once his breath slowed, he wrapped her arms around Kai and held her tight. He pressed his lips against the nape of her neck and rocked her.
“Red,” Kai whispered. “Red, we have to….”
“I can’t believe you don’t want to see me,” he whispered.
“Red, come on, come out of me, we have to go.”
“I’m not letting you go, Kai. You have to come home with me. We can’t leave it like this. Come, sleep with me.”
Kai wriggled in Red’s arms, refusing to address his invitation.
“Come on, let me wash up. We’ll talk about it at the bar.”
Red eased himself out of Kai and released her from his arms. She went over to the sink and turned on the water. She wet a few paper towels and wiped between her legs. She kept her eyes lowered as she rolled her skirt back down to her ankles and adjusted her clothing. She heard Red pulling up his underwear and zipping his pants as she splashed water on her face and dried it on the bottom of her shirt. As she was smoothing her eyebrows, she caught Red standing behind her, staring at her reflection in the mirror.
“Kai, please,” he whispered softly.
Kai paused, lost in the intensity of his stare. When the banging erupted again, neither one of them responded. They stood still, caught in the stubborn reflections of each other’s eyes.