•~12~•
She was ashamed of herself. Karla couldn't believe she had just stood, tongue tied, the first time she'd come face to face with Raul. The plan had been to flirt with him, tease him with her body, make a standing first impression. That was all wishes now. She was just another woman dazed by Raul Valdez's presence.
That could be corrected if Karla pulled their second meeting off. After Raul had saved her from the drunk man, he'd ordered one of his men to lead her back to her quarters. The meeting at 8 pm was still on, and Karla was fully prepared.
From the closet, which was filled with seductive wears, Karla had picked out a black lace gown. The gown stopped at her ankles, had long sleeves, and no linen. Since Karla didn't bother with underwear, her breast and the V between her legs were clearly visible. She had makeup on, accentuated by her blood red lips and smoky eyes. Karla was sexy, only a man without a pulse would deny it.
The door knob turned, and the boudoir's door was pushed in. Raul Valdez walked in, in all his glory. He was still wearing the black top and jeans he had been wearing earlier, but his hair was a bit shaggy. His untidy hair added to his appeal. He imaged the rouge wolf, a vile beast roaming the wild alone, searching for prey to devour.
There was just something about him that prevented Karla from thinking straight. She couldn't organize her thoughts when around him, talk less of speaking. And she was doing it again. She was standing, tongue tied.
Inhaling a deep breath, Karla eased her nerves, and smiled. She swung her hips provocatively as she approached Raul.
"I've been waiting for you." She cooed sweetly, and pressed her body on Raul's.
The move was supposed to arouse him, but it ended up arousing Karla instead. As her nipples flattened on his hard chest, she felt a sensation run down her body, straight to the place between her legs. On impulse, Karla placed her hand above Raul's abdomen. That made her predicament worse, because she felt his stone abs, and her weakness. Karla bit her tongue, to prevent her from biting her lip.
Karla forced her composure back together. "I have a lot of things to show you." She twirled her finger around his abs. "Tricks. Positions."
To Karla's surprise, Raul chuckled. He held the hand that was on his stomach, and used it to gently push her backwards. This shocked Karla even more.
"It's funny." He said, with an amused tone, and to no one in particular. "The almighty Karla Nightingale, a lowly slut. Where did all your bullshit go Candy?"
What Raul was talking about, Karla didn't understand. It almost sounded like he knew her, more than the 5 minutes they'd spent together. He had called her Candy, which was strange. Only one other person had ever called her Candy. He was an old high school friend, with black hair and blue eyes.
Now that Karla's mind was on it, Raul's eyes were also blue. In fact, they were exactly the same shade as her friend's. And his hair, although it was more taken care of and had a different style, it was certainly the same she'd seen in the past. Karla couldn't believe it.
"Kevin?"
•~♥~•
12 YEARS AGO
In middle school, being the new girl was hard, but being the new black girl in a white dominated school was even harder. Most didn't care the race she was, and neither did they care for her. However, there were those who found her presence as a problem. It didn't help that the school was expensive and only meant for the upper class of society, but her, the daughter of a regular store owner had gotten into it on a full scholarship.
Sitting alone at the soccer field's bleachers, little Karla gloomily nibbled on her veggie sandwich. The first half of the school day had gone just like the others —with her as good as invincible. After two weeks of her new school, she still had no friends. If she did, she would have had someone who'd invite her to sit at their table in the cafeteria.
Karla tried to take a big bite out of her lunch, but quickly spat it out. She hated vegetables. Her mother always insisted vegetarian meals were good for her, but she just couldn't accept it. They didn't have enough meat, and she loved meat. Sure she pitied the poor animals that were killed to fill her belly, but she could never really resist the tantalizing aroma of well grilled meat.
Dipping her hand into the side pocket of her backpack, Karla brought out a handful of chewy candy —the ones she'd swiped from the "goodies for kids" section of her parents' hardware store. She stuffed it all into her mouth at once, and began munching. Just then, five white boys trotted to where Karla sat. She recognized them as the middle school's top troublemakers. They were bad news, anything they wanted from her wouldn't be good.
"Hey look who it is," Rocky, a boy who was too big for his age, and obviously the top dog, snarked. "it's Miss Brainiac. Helping the Brainiac steal cities?"
Rocky and his four followers laughed at his lame Superman joke. He stepped even closer to Karla, and put his face in hers.
"Why do you have to be the only one who doesn't pay to be here? Or are your parents too poor? That must be it! The school is running a charity program! I wonder if I can bring the cat who always goes through my trash too."
Anger boiled within Karla. She knew many kids in her new school looked down on her, but hearing it in person still hurt badly. Her parents weren't poor, they got along just fine. And she wasn't in a charity program, she won the right to be in the school fair and square. This boy knew that, but he probably thought belittling her was okay. Without thinking it through, Karla spat the candy she'd been chewing, straight onto Rocky's face.
The shock from what Karla had done paused all six of them for a moment, including Karla, before Rocky's expression morphed into a murderous scowl.
"You..!" He fisted his hand to punch Karla.
"Don't even think about it destroyer god."
The six faced the person who'd just spoke, a tall boy with messy black hair.
"Stay out of this Valdez." Rocky snapped.
TEASER: MORE OF RAUL AND KARLA'S CHILDHOOD STORIES