Quicksand

13|| Point of View

13

Point of View

"Flirting?" Amara questioned; eyebrows drawn.

Andrew studied her face with the seriousness she assumed he used to study his work. His mouth was in a grim line. She repressed a shudder when his fingers trailed her jawline slowly, deep in thought.

He tilted her head back and lowered his head to take her mouth. A hesitation, unhurried, as if providing a mindset so she could remember the moment. He kissed her gently as if to confirm something. Then immediately it was followed by a hungry open mouth. Wet and hard. She moaned into his mouth, he groaned and swept her into his arm. He caressed her lightly at first while searching for ways to shape them into each other, to inhabit, to become.

Andrew tore his mouth from her. Amara's mind stunned, her head light. Her world rocked.

"What were you talking about? What did James tell you that had you smiling so much?"

She fiddled with her fingers. "He was just being polite."

"Jamie is never polite without an agenda."

"He's your brother."

"Yes. I know him better than anyone."

Unaware of her heart beating or the rise and fall of her chest, Amara laughed. Surely, he wasn't suggesting that she was the type of person to double deal two brothers. Granted, she had entertained more than she should have, and she knew it was wrong of her. But there were boundaries she never crossed.

"It's not that serious, Andrew."

"I thought you understood what coming with me meant," he said.

Her brain stalled. "What are you trying to say? I'm not allowed to talk to your brother?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Is that too much to ask?"

"What happened between the two of you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

She leaned into him. "You'll have to tell me the truth at some point."

"I will. Just avoid him for now. Please."

As soon as his moist, plump lips imprinted on her neck, she lost all rational thought. Amara was amazed at how one touch of his lips could hitch her breath and make the red flags somehow appear white.

"My best friend is here," he said. "Let me introduce you."

Amara prepared herself for the oracle she would almost certainly face the moment she met his closest friend.

They were at the top deck. A tall woman in a yellow dress stood beside a short man in white Khaki shorts.

"Bisa and Kwame," Andrew introduced. "This is Amara."

"Hello." Amara smiled politely. "It's nice to finally meet both of you. I've heard so much about you."

Bisa's black hair had been carefully straightened and then forced into pin curls which left her neck bewitchingly bare. The fabric of her dress, flowering down to her knees partially hiding a deep brown birthmark across one kneecap.

"Nice to meet you, Amara," Bisa said warmly.

Two cocktails and a tiramisu later, Amara discovered that Bisa was an Actuary for one of the biggest insurance company in Lusher – reliance insurance – and Kwame's ran the family-owned Intelli Corporation a global manufacturing and trading company that directly contributed to the growth of Makavia's economy. There were 3 divisions under the Intelli Corporation: Explosives and Defense, Trade, and Machinery.