Angelle’s Uncle Derrick’s three-bedroom, bachelor home, set on a near acre of lush land. Bordering the beach, the scenery made her feel like she vacationed. Sometimes while there, it seemed hard to believe that she stayed at a relative’s house due to her father’s desertion, poverty, and homelessness.     

        Surroundings were not all that changed for Angelle. Once skinny, she gained weight and her body ripened voluptuously. Everywhere she went, men noticed. At first, the ogling made her nervous and uncomfortable. Until, that is, Angelle began to enjoy the attention. She realized the benefits and power in possessing such attractiveness. Practically every day someone commented about how good she looked. It gave her such a high. What’s more, men always asked her out, treated her sweetly, and tried to buy her things.

        Caught up in all the admiration, Angelle wanted to flaunt her seductiveness. She experimented with revealing outfits for her shapely figure, makeup for her caramel hued complexion, and a variety of hairstyles for her long, black hair. Her uncle’s best friend and business partner, Chris, a frequent visitor to his home, constantly expressed flattering remarks. It started with him telling Angelle that she resembled a beautiful doll his sister once owned. It continued with him complimenting how nice her hair always looked, or admiring her sundresses, or short sets. Whenever Chris offered flattering comments Angelle and he were always alone and secluded.   

        On one occasion, after sipping on too many beers, Chris slipped up and admired Angelle’s looks openly in front of her uncle. To that, Derrick scolded him jokingly, “Man, don’t you get any ideas about my niece. She’s only seventeen years old, and your old, grown-ass is almost thirty-nine.”

        Chris responded playfully, “You see, that’s what I get for telling you everything about my love life. Now, you think just because I can’t find the right woman, I’m horny for anybody, even young girls. I meant no disrespect, Angelle.”

        “None taken,” Angelle replied softly.

Deep within her, though, she didn’t feel as innocent as she sounded. Angelle felt turned on—turned on by Chris. With his mixture of African-American and Puerto Rican descent, he was the most gorgeous creature she had ever laid eyes on. She also grew fond of the extremely kind way he treated her, his humor, and his conversations. 

        A mechanic who partnered with her uncle in his auto body shop, Chris seemed extremely knowledgeable about cars and just about everything else. Since her mother worked lengthy hours at one of the island’s bars, Angelle spent long periods around her uncle and his friend. Then, one Saturday afternoon she spent time alone with only Chris.

        He had stopped by to lounge around and watch movies with her uncle. Unfortunately, Derrick had taken a girlfriend to a new shopping mall in Columbia, South Carolina, many miles away.

        “He probably won’t be back until night,” Angelle said, noticing the hungry way Chris stared at her face and body. It thrilled her, but she acted unaware of it.

        “Oh, I see.” He dabbed the corner of his mustache and looked anxious. “Well, do you mind if I just hang out here? He has a bigger T.V. and I wanted to see this suspense thriller on a big screen. Maybe you want to watch it with me. I heard it’s really good.”

        Angelle stood speechless at that moment. How many times had she fantasized about being alone with Chris, intermingled on the sofa with him, and kissing him senseless? God knows fulfilling that luscious dream could have been possible if she hung around with him. It would have been unforgettable.

        Nevertheless, this obsession with her uncle’s best friend and business partner was wrong. What’s more, sometimes Angelle had the strongest and strangest feeling that something awful would happen if she succumbed to her attraction to Chris. Undoubtedly, it would have destroyed his friendship with her uncle. God had to give her strength. As for watching television alone with him, it wasn’t a good idea.

        “I--I’m getting ready to go out,” Angelle finally answered. “I’m going to surprise my mom and have dinner with her after she finishes her shift. But Uncle Derrick won’t mind if you stay and watch your movie. So help yourself to the television.”

        “That’s nice of you. I think I will stay.” Chris smiled, but cut if off sharply with an intense look. “You’re a beautiful, young lady. You know that? A very, sexy young lady, too.”

        “Thank you.”

        In her bedroom, Angelle picked out the outfit and accessories that she planned to wear out and spread each piece on the bed. White and pastel pink seemed like perfect colors to be decked out in on such a sunny day. With her gear together, she grabbed towels from the linen closet and went into the bathroom.

        The air drenched with the fragrance of coconut soap. Her uncle stocked the house with it. Angelle closed the door, shed her clothes, and stepped beneath the lukewarm shower stream. All the while, sensations flooded the bottom of her stomach, making her ache for something that she should have been ashamed of wanting.    

        When Angelle saw the bathroom door open, she stood beneath the shower wet and naked. Reaching for a towel to cover up didn’t even pop in her mind. Nor did she insist that Chris leave. With his eyes, he expressed what he needed. With hers, she invited him to do anything to her that he wanted, because anything he wanted, she wanted just as much.

        Chris shut off the water and then undressed, his eyes never leaving hers. Breath caught in Angelle’s throat once she saw him fully nude. Bigger and more erect than she imagined, he could barely fit into the condom. She had only been with one other guy before, the basketball star of her high school. Sans his clothes, he lacked the goods of this virile, muscular man.

        Before long, Chris’s solid body sealed Angelle against him and the feeling of his readiness pressing into her, shocked her. He kissed her as if he couldn’t taste enough of her, savoring her lips, then piercing the opening between them with his tongue. Simultaneously his hands wandered over her, the small of her back, her buttocks, everywhere. Each inch of skin that he stroked, set her that much more on fire.  

        Chris stalled at her nipples. Playing with them, he sucked them ever so slowly, working up Angelle’s sensual hunger until she moaned and begged him to touch lower and fill her up with something much harder and larger than his fingers. Preparing to satisfy her need, Chris’s hands drifted downward. He titillated her quivering stomach, then explored the moistness between her legs.

        “Oh, God,” Angelle whimpered, feeling such unbearable pleasure that she trembled. 

        But there was more when Chris backed her against the wall, pulled her legs far apart, and thrust himself inside of her as deeply as he could go. At that point, his tongue moved in and out of her mouth in the same motion that his erection pumped her wetness. Like a madman possessed by only what felt good, Chris writhed his hips in varied erotic ways and shut his eyes tightly. And just when Angelle believed the sensations couldn’t feel any sweeter, he reached under thighs, propping her legs around his waist. In that position, he loved her with all he had.

        Angelle screamed as the intoxicating feeling hit full force. Drops of his sweat poured onto her. She tasted the saltiness, along with the succulent, natural taste of his tongue swirling around hers. Unable to get enough, she wrapped her arms around Chris’s slippery back and shoulders and swayed her hips to receive more. She was determined to give him all in her power to give. 

        “Oh, you feel so good inside,” he groaned and began to shake. 

But suddenly the wind and the sound of the door opening startled them apart.