“I don’t know what this is...” She paused, as she placed her hands on his chest, gently tracing the outline of his tattoos. She took a second to gather her thoughts. Her head was spinning, and her heart was pumping pure emotion. She didn’t want to come off clingy or scare him with confessions of love. She knew that to him this could very well be just sex, but she felt something…different…rare…with this man. She had felt it the very first time he wrapped his arms around her and not telling him would torture her.

“I just want you to stay, okay?” she finished, afraid to say much more. It was at that moment that he knew he could never tell her. He had finally found her. He didn’t want to jeopardize what they could be together. He didn’t care if he was building his foundation with her on secrecy and lies. Before he knew what she felt like on the inside, he could have done it. He could have let the truth push her out of his life, but not now…not after she had let him discover the secret that heaven was between her legs. Ethic knew it was selfish, but he hadn’t felt a love like this before, not even with Raven. Their love had been young and passionate, something he never thought he would find again. But this thing with Alani Lenika Hill, was more potent than anything he had ever felt.

“I’m right here,” he replied.

“I know,” she whispered. “But men leave. They always do, eventually, right down to my daddy. They just are here one day and decide I’m too much work the next. I don’t want you to leave me.” She saw his eyes widen, slightly, and she knew that her words were coming on too strong. “I’m not saying you have a responsibility to stay, but I like this between us. I mean…” She felt herself talking too much. I probably sound crazy right now, she thought. She knew she was rambling, but she couldn’t quite express to him how good he made life feel without sounding like she was expecting too much. “I just want to explore whatever this is. I’ve never met anyone that I was willing to change for, but you make me feel differently. I want to be what you like. I want you to want to stay, so if I’m ever doing anything to make you feel like you don’t want to explore this with me, just tell me and I’ll change it. I just really don’t want you to leave; and if it’s not like that, just tell me now. We can leave it right here, right now, as is…just one night.”