Disclaimer: I do not own any characters (people actually, but ya'll know what I mean. lol) Just the story, so please don't try to sue me :)
The way that her body moved in that plum dress had to be a felony somewhere - he was sure of it.
Derek was sitting on Amber's couch. Still in his suit from her Pre-Grammy's party. She had invited him back to her place and was now in the kitchen making some drinks. The last thing he wanted was another drink, but refusing to spend more time with Amber was out of the question. And being alone - with her - at her place?
Yeah, he was going to need a stiff one.
Watching her move about was becoming his favorite number one pastime.
"Vodka or Rum?" Amber asked from in the kitchen.
"Whatever you're having is fine." he answered
"Okay. Be there in a minute. Make yourself at home Der."
He chuckled at the nickname. It had been awhile since she had called him that. As he took off his coat, he noticed some of her vinyl collection on one of the end tables.
Donny Hathaway, Nikka Costa, Amy Winehouse, and Al Green. He then turned towards the kitchen and said, " No offense Ber, but I didn't know that you knew about Nikka.."
She was walking towards him with their drinks and he had lost the ability to speak. With each step that she took, her dress slightly rose up a bit and it was making him stupid. Her quiet laughter brought him back to their conversation.
"Most folks don't know about her. I'm surprised that you do too."
Amber put their drinks on the coffee table and sat on the couch. "Go ahead on put her vinyl on if you want." she told him. So he headed to her vinyl player to do just that. Except he picked up the Al Green album instead. Sounds from the track 'I'm Still in Love With You' filled the room and Amber quickly looked up at him. He thought for a second that maybe he had made a mistake and was about to change the album until she spoke up.
"Okay..someone is just full of surprises tonight! Not that I am complaining, but what made you chose this record?"
As he sat back down on the couch he answered, "I honestly couldn't tell you because I don't know. It just felt right for some reason."
Derek heard a soft thump and looked down. She was taking off her Jimmy Choos. Her hands seemed to glide in slow motion as she reached down, tugged gently on the heel, and let the pump slide off her delicate foot.
He swallowed hard and quickly reached for his drink.
"Tonight was amazing, but it was way past time for me to take off these babies!" she giggled.
"Yeah, tonight was great. And thank you again for inviting me to be apart of your celebration." he said.
"How could I not? You were part of my journey. I wouldn't have felt right about not having you there."
Her words caught him off guard and he had to ask, "What do you mean? I'm sure if we never met that the world would have taken notice of you Amber. How could they not?"
He could see the slightest blush show up on her lovely face as she tried to hide her smile. This only made his heart beat faster and he was glad he took off his jacket when they first got in - he was sure that it wasn't the Cobra Libra that had him suddenly warm all over..
"You helped me embrace my 'grown woman' side more. My sensual and mature side - that I kept hidden from almost everyone. You helped me see that it was okay as well as time for me to share that part of myself. In front of millions - for weeks! You know better than most how nervous I was with some of those numbers that we did, and you continued to put me at ease and make it a fun experience. You really are a blessing to me and I will never be able to thank you enough for that."
This woman here.. She was thanking him? He was the one that wanted to thank her for agreeing to do the show to begin with. Then he wanted to thank whoever thought to even ask her to do Dancing With the Stars. Hell, he wanted to thank her parents for bringing and raising such a loving, giving, and phenomenal woman into the world! All he could do was stare at her with awed reverence.
As the intro to 'What a Wonderful Thing Love is' began to play, he quickly stood up and reached for her hand.
"If you really feel that way, then will you do me the honor of dancing with me one more time tonight?"
She laughed out loud as she accepted his hand and he couldn't fight the grin off his face. Amber swayed slowly into Derek's arms and he knew that he wanted her to stay there forever. Without thinking, he gently pulled her closer and she looked up at him with those alluring brown eyes of hers. He caught himself staring at her lush lips and the need to feel them - at least once - took hold of him. So he did.
He heard a soft gasp come from her as he leaned in and captured her lips with his own, and would have sworn that he felt an electric euphoric jolt from the contact. When he parted, he saw that she still had her eyes closed and was bringing her left hand to her lips. As if she wanted to store the memory.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. It's just I -" he started before she interrupted.
"No. Please don't apologize for that. It would make what I was about to say sound very awkward." she said.
"Oh. Okay. What did you want to say?"
"That I'm glad you kissed me. Finally."
And just that like that - the grin was back on his face. "Really?"
"Yeah. I'm still a little shy, but I was hoping that you would kiss me tonight. Honestly.."
"Honestly.."
"Honestly? It was the reason that I invited you back here to my place."
Derek was stunned almost speechless after that admission. He couldn't believe it - she wanted to kiss him?! Since when? He had to get his thoughts in check - fast!
So he took her hand and lead her back to the couch. Then he had a quick gulp of his drink. "Amber, I have wanted to do that for so long now..I just didn't want to risk our friendship. Especially since it's well known that you don't mix business and pleasure. Ever."
She sighed. "I know - you're right. It's just that with you..I feel like I would be cheating myself out of something incredible. And I don't want to do that - I don't know what it is about you, but I want more. More moments with you. Tonight, when you and Mark were about to leave..I didn't want to see you go. Not without.."
"A kiss goodnight?" he answered for her smugly with an arched eyebrow.
Amber had to laugh at that corny line - it was so him. "Yes. And no. I wanted..more..I want you."
His throat instantly went dry. Derek tried to tell himself that he couldn't have heard her right, but when he looked directly into her eyes..
Yeah, there was no mistaking what she said after that.
She was being so honest and open with him that he had to reciprocate. "Amber..sigh. I will never be able to put into words how much I want you.."
"Then why don't you spend your time showing me?"
Amber stood up, turned away from him and reached for the side zipper to her dress. Before she even had her hand on the zipper Derek was right behind her.
"Allow me. Please." he whispered into her ear.
He could feel her shiver as he placed his hand on her hip and slowly brought it to her side.
"Okay." She then looked up at him and held his stare as he undid her dress.
Al Green was crooning melodically on the track 'Simple Beautiful' and Derek had to fight a groan from the sight of her in a white satin and lace bustier.
He begin to kiss her shoulder and started to work his way up to her neck. Until she turned around to face him.
The look of desire on her heavenly face made him bold and he quickly scooped her into his arms bridal style. Crashing his mouth to hers and kissing her as if it was their last day on earth together. Amber only broke their kiss to say the six most sexiest words that Derek had ever heard, "My bedroom is down the hall."
As he made his way to the bedroom with her in his arms, he took one last look at the dress on the living room floor and begin kissing her again..
"That was 'Simple Beautiful' by request. Hope all you lovers enjoyed this session of The Quiet Storm. This is DJ HBinns signing off - Good Night."
Derek opened his eyes in complete shock when he heard the announcer say good night. He was still in his suit - back at his place and in his own bed.
No sign of Amber. The feeling of longing and realization that he felt went deep.
It was just a dream. He left his bed and went to his bathroom to take a shower. The faint smell of her perfume was still on his shirt, and if he was going to get any sleep tonight it had to go. The steam from the hot water made its way to his mirror. Once he had undressed, he wiped the fog away and stared at his reflection. He sighed while slowly shaking his head.
"I knew that that dress would make its way into my dreams.. Damn."