lips.
Liberty’s body melted into Po as she kissed him back,tasting the wine on his tongue as her body became ablaze with suppressed pleasure. How was it possible that another man was making her feel the exact same passion that A’shai had? Liberty wanted to stop, but then again, she didn’t want to stop. She lingered in his embrace as their bodies pressed against each other. The thin fabric of her dress wasn’t enough of a barrier between them to stop her arousal. The firmness of his manhood as it bulged in his slacks made her wet as his hands slid down her back and pulled her ass into him. She moaned against her will; she was caught in his rapture. Never in her life had Liberty wanted to be fucked so badly. She needed to release the tension, the sadness, the chaos that had been building inside of her. But when she closed her eyes, it wasn’t Po’s face that she saw. She imagined that his hands were A’shai’s hands, his tongue A’shai’s tongue.
“Ooh, Shai,” she whispered. She realized her mistake as soon as the words left her mouth, and she pulled away in embarrassment. She covered her mouth as tears came to her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Po,” she apologized.
Po wiped his mouth with his hand as his nostrils flared from the intensity of his breathing. Liberty had him fiending to feel her body against his, to have her as a replacement in his life. He wasn’t mad at her for thinking of the past, because he was guilty of having the same thoughts. They were trying to fill a void in each other’s life, but they each had huge shoes to fill.
“It’s okay,” he replied. “I understand.”
“How could you?” she shouted. “No one understands what I lost.”
Po sat down in the sand, disregarding his expensive threads, and patted the spot next to him. Liberty sat and leaned her head on his shoulder.
“I have to tell you something, Liberty,” Po stated. “My girlfriend was murdered. The day we met at the hospital, I was going to collect some of her things. A nigga I had issues with in the street came into the home that we shared and killed her. They tortured her trying to get answers out of her. Thinking that she wasn’t cooperating they murdered her, but they didn’t know that she couldn’t give them what they wanted. She was deaf. She couldn’t hear them,” Po revealed.
“Oh my God,” Liberty whispered as she grabbed his hand and intertwined her fingers with his. “I’m sorry.”
“Her name was Scarlett. She was an organ donor, Liberty,” Po stated. “I have no way to be certain, but I think the last-minute heart that they found for you used to beat inside of Scarlett’s chest. You remind me so much of her.”
Liberty let go of his hand and looked at him in shock as her chest caved in. She lost her breath for a moment as she processed the bomb he had just dropped on her. “What?” She abruptly stood to her feet and dusted off her dress. “So this kiss? You wanting me around? All of this was about your dead girlfriend!” Liberty yelled. “This . . . this . . . connection that I feel to you is because you are trying to have a living memorial to her!”
“No!” Po defended. “It’s not like that, Liberty!” Po stood to his feet.
“Oh really? You sure?” Liberty drilled.
Po rubbed the top of his head, frustrated. “I don’t know!”
“You don’t even know if I have her heart! I’m not her! I won’t be her!” Liberty said as she hit her chest with the palm of her hand for emphasis. “I’m not a living shrine!”
“I know that, Liberty!” Po answered.
Liberty didn’t know why she was so upset. She shouldn’t want him to be attracted to her. Why do I even care? she thought.
“It wasn’t a good idea that I stayed here, Po. I’m sorry for your loss, but I cannot stay in L.A. I don’t belong here with you,” she whispered as she walked away from him, unsure of where she was headed.
Po waited up all night for Liberty to come back to the hotel. The
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