Nervous

not like I have on a tuxedo or anything.”

Mason had on a pair of khakis and a button-down alabaster shirt. He was sexy as hell, too.

As we left our building and walked to his car, I began to wonder if things would lead to something sexual that night and if I were even ready for it. In my mind, I had never experienced sex, even though my body had obviously engaged in it countless times. Would I be able to “hang” as some people called it? Would I even halfway know what I was doing in order to please him? I was scared to death.

We ended up at a large office building downtown and I was wondering what in the world we were doing. “Mason, what is this place?” I asked as we pulled into a spot in the empty parking garage.

“Don’t worry. This is where I work.”

“You’re taking me to your job?” I asked incredulously. “At this time of night?”

“Shh,” he whispered, placing his index finger over my lips. “Just relax and go with the flow.”

We were greeted by the night guard at the desk who gave Mason a high-five and we then took the elevator up to the eleventh floor. Mason directed me into his office and told me to have a seat.

“So, what are we doing here?”

“We’ll only be in my office for a second.” He opened a closet and disappeared inside. I glanced around; his office was impressive, to say the least. He had a magnificent picture window that spanned the entire wall and a mahogany desk with a high-back black leather chair. There were two computers on his credenza and a flat plasma television was hanging on one of the walls.

He came back out holding a duffel bag. “Let’s go.”

We got back on the elevator and headed to the roof. “I don’t know about this,” I said after I saw which button he pushed. “I’m not a big fan of heights.”

He gripped my hand. “It’s all good. Don’t worry.”

I forced a smile. “If you say so.”

He kissed me on the cheek. “I do say so.”

When we got to the roof, it was a gorgeous night and I could immediately see why he took me up there. There was a spectacular view of the city skyline.

“I’ve never seen anything this beautiful,” I told him.

“That makes two of us.” He slipped his tongue into my mouth and I eagerly accepted it. While we had kissed many times before, this time was different. There was something permanent about it. I could have stayed that way, in his embrace, for an eternity, but he broke the kiss. “Let’s dance.”

“Excuse me?”

“We never got to finish dancing at the now infamous wedding so I figured we could finish the dance here.” He paused and studied me. “That was you that I danced with at the wedding, right?”

“Yes, I remember everything until the point when you walked off with Smitty.”

“Cool.” Mason opened his duffel bag and pulled out a battery-operated lantern and boombox combination. He turned on the light, directing it toward where I was standing, and then took a CD out of the bag and put it inside the boombox. “Without You” from Charlie Wilson’s Bridging the Gap started playing.

Mason came to me and put his arms around my waist and started singing to me about how the sun doesn’t shine without me. I was weak in the knees. We were lost in each other and the music for the next two hours. I could not have imagined a more perfect evening. There was no way to top it off. At least, that’s what I thought until we went back to Mason’s place.

He asked me, “Is it okay if I run you a bath?”

My nerves were shot. It was time to make a decision and it was an easy one. I just prayed I would measure up.

“Sure,” I responded.

“I don’t have to join you. I’ll leave that up to you. I just want to pamper you and make you feel special.”

“You’ve been doing that all night, Mason.”

He brushed his lips across mine. “That’s because I’m in love with you, Jonquinette.”

I closed my eyes and exhaled. “I never thought I would hear anyone say that to me.”

“Well, now you have.”

“I don’t know how to respond,” I said.

“Then don’t.” Mason disappeared in the back and I heard water running. A few minutes later he came back, took me by the hand, and led me to the bathroom where he had prepared a bath with vanilla-scented oil. There were rose petals scattered across the surface of the water. Candles in champagne-shaped glasses were surrounding the tub wall and there was soft music coming from his bedroom.

“Would you like for me to undress you, Jonquinette?” he asked me seductively.

“I-I-I’d like that,” I finally managed to get out. “But only if I can undress you too.”

I wanted Mason to know that I didn’t want to bathe alone. I needed to be held, caressed. I needed him, and only him, to make love to me. I wanted to know what it felt like, especially since I had no idea how much time I had before Jude decided to rid the world of me forever.

Walter Beasley’s “I Had a Dream” started playing as Mason pulled my sweater over my head. I slipped out of my penny loafers and made eye contact with him as he unfastened and unzipped my jeans. He sat down on the side of the tub so he could maneuver them over my hips and then I stepped out of them.

He grabbed my waist and kissed my nipples through my white cotton bra. They were as hard as black pearls. He lowered my bra straps and reached behind me to unclasp it. I ran my fingers through his dreadlocks and kissed his forehead as he took one of my now bare breasts into his mouth and suckled on it.

I heard myself moaning and thought about all the times I had fantasized about such a moment throughout the years of masturbating in my lonely bed at night.

Mason kept exploring both of my breasts with his tongue while he lowered my panties down around my ankles so I could step out of those as well. So there I was nude, in front of a man, for the very first time by my own choice. Instead of feeling humiliated or uncomfortable, I felt liberated. At that moment, I knew I could go through with it. I wasn’t leaving there until Mason and I had made love.

I pulled on his dreads so that he would look up at me. “I want to make love to you tonight.”

He grinned with that incredible smile of his. “Then you shall. I would like nothing more.”

“Let me undress you now.”

Mason stood up so I could unbutton his shirt and slide it off his shoulders. It fell into the tub but neither one of us made a move to retrieve it. We just continued to stare at one another. I fumbled with Mason’s belt to get it loose and then helped him take off his pants. He had on a black sheer thong and I saw a dick for the very first time.

Walter Beasley’s Rendez-Vous CD continued to play as he took the thong off and climbed into the tub. He grabbed my hand and helped me to step in. He sat down and I straddled him. We began kissing again, this time more intensely. I could feel his dick between my thighs, teasing my pussy lips. I had never known so much pleasure. That was a far cry from a towel or sheet causing friction against my clit, which was all I was used to.

Mason started sucking my breasts again and turned on the jets in the tub. The water pulsating against my skin only added to the experience. I moved back off him slightly and reached down to caress his dick. It felt wonderful to the touch. Mason also reached down into the water and started fingering me gently. The volume of my moans increased and I had an orgasm just from him touching me with his hand.

He glanced up at me and asked, “Did you just do what I think you did?”

I snickered. “Um, yes, I believe I did.” I laid my head on his shoulder and hugged him with both arms, letting go of his dick. “Mason, don’t laugh at me. Remember all of this is new for me.”

He grabbed my chin and gazed at me lovingly. “I would never laugh at you, Jonquinette.”

He took a towel and a bar of soap, lathered it up and started bathing me, slowly and tenderly, never breaking eye contact. Before I knew it, I had completely lost control of my senses. I started sucking on his neck and then his chest. He pulled my head back toward his legs by my hair, squeezed the towel so that water cascaded down the center of my chest and then starting sucking my nipples. Again, I had an orgasm.

We finished bathing and Mason refused to use a bath towel. Instead, he licked me dry. Then he carried me into the bedroom and laid me down on his king-sized bed. It was covered with silk animal-print sheets and a matching down comforter. He lifted my left foot to his mouth and proceeded to suck my toes, one at a time. After