by Jamilia Fair
She turns to her father with a huge smile. “He said he’s in love with me!”
Janice looks at me and smiles.
“Well, that took you long enough.”
I shrug. “I had to find the right time.”
Tabitha looks back and forth between us before her eyes settle on her mother. “Mom, what are you talking about? What’s going on here?”
Janice casts me a quick glance then turns to her daughter. “Nothing, honey.”
“No, not nothing. You said ‘Well, that took you long enough.’ What did you mean by that?” Tabitha questions with her hands on her hips.
Her mother takes a big breath.
“Alright, fine. Jeremiah told me he loved you almost three weeks ago,” she admits.
“What?” Tabitha turns her shocked gaze to me, her mouth hung open. “You said that?”
I nod. “I did,” I said.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Why tell my mother?” Tabitha questions.
“I didn’t want to scare you, and your mother asked. So, I told her the truth.” I take a deep breath. “I thought if I told you, you would run. I didn’t know how you felt about me, Tabitha. You’re not really a woman of many words when you’re not upset.”
The corners of her lips tilt up. “Are you saying I only express my feelings when I’m upset?”
I nod. “Yes, I am.”
Shaking her head, she kisses her father’s cheek then moves to kiss her mother’s cheek. “I love you both. We’re going to head home.”
Past
Jeremiah
(4)
I whisk Tabitha into the house and up the stairs to my bedroom. I know she knows what I want, and if I am honest, I’m hoping she wants the same thing. There’s so much that I want to do to her and want her to do to me. I want tonight to be a night she’ll never forget. I want to make love to her like no man has ever made love to another woman.
As I lean down to kiss her, I watch a tiny flicker of fear rise in her eyes, and I stop. The last thing I want to do is make her feel obligated to do something she’s not ready to do.
“We don’t have to do this.” As much as I want to make love to her right now, I want her to want to, too.
She lifts her hands and runs her fingers through my hair. “Believe me, Jeremiah, I want to more than anything. I really want to.”
“But …”
She swallows.
“I’m afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“Of how you will look at me when I tell you why I’ve never been intimate with a man before.”
My brows wrinkle in confusion. What can she possibly have to tell me that will change the way I look at her? I don’t believe there’s anything she can possibly say that will ever change how I see her.
“Okay, there’s no need to drag this out. I’m going to just tell you straight out.” She takes a big breath. “When I was seven, I was molested by a friend of our family.”
I blink a couple of times. Did I hear her right? Did she say she was molested as a child and by someone her family called a friend? I stare at her body and her face, trying to figure out who in their right mind would want to hurt her.
“Jeremiah, please, say something.”
“Where is he?” I hear myself growl.
“I don’t know. He was released from prison when I was fourteen, and I haven’t heard about him since.”
“That son of a bitch only got seven years?” I roar in rage.
“Hey, calm down.” She takes my face in her hands. “He’s gone. He can’t hurt me anymore. Ever.”
Just then, a thought came to me. “Do you think he could be the one who poisoned you?”
She shakes her head. “I highly doubt it. I may have sent him to prison, but I doubt he spent those seven years thinking of a way to kill me,” she sighs. “Besides, why would he wait until now to do something?”
I take a big breath. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
It’s quiet for a moment, but then she decides to speak. “Jer?”
“Yes?”
“How different do you see me now?”
Instead of answering her, I cradle her closer and dip my head to claim her lips in a kiss filled with nothing but love and passion. I suck her bottom lip into my mouth as she lightly runs her fingers through my hair, fisting it and gently pulling at it. I lightly walk my fingers down her back.
“Does that answer your question?” I draw back to stare into her eyes. “I love you, and I will never see you any differently than I see you as you stand before me now.”
A slow smile spreads across her lips. “Say it again.”
I chuckle. “I love you.”
“Again.”
“I love you.”
“Again.”
“I love you. I love you. I love you.”
She laughs. “I will never grow tired of hearing you say that.” She lifts herself onto her toes and kisses my lips. “I love you too.”
I dip my head to claim her lips. She responds immediately, her hands instantly cupping my face to hold me to her. My hands fall to her waist as I back her into the dresser. I draw back to meet her gaze, to make sure this is what she wants, and I see the same look of want in my eyes in hers. I lower my head to kiss her again, only for her to push past me toward the opposite side of the room, keeping her back to me. She turns her head to the side as if to look at me, and before I can question her, she lowers the straps of her dress, and I watch it fall to the floor, leaving her standing in black and white lace panties and bra. My eyes fall to the sexy dimples on her lower back, and my mouth instantly salivates. I think I’ve found the sexiest part of her body. A slow smile spreads across my lips as I slowly cross the room to her, my eyes never leaving her frame. Her skin looks softer than silk. I just want to touch and lick every inch of her.
Once I’m standing directly behind her, I slowly wrap my arms around her middle and pull her into me and lower my lips to her shoulder. She takes in a sharp breath when I do this, and I smile against her skin, loving her reaction to me. I kiss a path up and down her shoulder until I reach her ear.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” I ask her before plunging my tongue into her ear.
She lets out a moan. “Yes. This is exactly what I want.” She turns around in my arms and tilts her head back to meet my gaze. “Make love to me, Jeremiah.”
Without any more need for confirmation, I slip my tongue between her lips in a kiss full of love, fervor, and lust. As I suck her bottom lip into my mouth, her fingers begin to pull at the buttons of my shirt eagerly. She makes it to the third button before getting frustrated and ripping my shirt open, scattering buttons in every direction of the room.
I laugh. “Someone’s eager.”
She looks up at me with a glare. “I’m not the most patient person in the world.” She lightly walks her fingers up and down my stomach. “Sue me.”
Wrapping her in my arms, I lift her up until we’re at eye level. “I just might. That was a five-hundred-dollar shirt.”
Her eyes widen. “What the hell are you doing spending five-hundred-dollars on a damn shirt for?” she scolds, slapping my arm.
I chuckle. “I liked the shirt.”
Shaking her head, she lowers her face until our noses are touching. “I’m going to teach you a lesson about saving money, Mr. Five-Hundred-Dollar Shirt.” She lowers her lips to my neck and places a soft kiss on my throat. “But first, I want you to give me a one on one course on biology.”
“I can definitely do that.”
“Put me down.”
I raise a brow. “Why?”
“I want to undress you,” she says with a devilish smirk. “Now, put me down.”
I lower her to her feet, and without hesitation, she pushes my shirt down my arms until it hits the floor, and before I know it, her lips are wrapped around one of my nipples. She sucks and nibbles on it while her hands work on getting my pants undone. My pants grow tighter when I feel her wet tongu
e swirling around my now sensitive nipple.
“Fuck, baby, I want you so bad right now,” I growl. “I want to be buried deep inside you.”
Her hot tongue slowly slides up my chest and my neck until she reaches my ear. I clench my eyes shut when she thrusts her tongue into my ear before gently nibbling on my earlobe. “And you will, but first, I have got to get you out of these pants.”
She kisses my lips then slowly lowers herself to her knees. She quickly removes my belt, slips her fingers through the waistband of my pants, and yanks them down until they’re a pool at my feet. I hold her gaze and step out of them. Her fingers then find the hem of my black briefs, and she takes her time removing them, going as painfully slow as she possibly can, freeing me from my confined prison.
“Fuck.” She licks her lips, and it makes me even harder than I already am. “I almost forgot how big you are.”
She wraps a warm hand around me and circles the tip with her hot tongue. I clench my eyes shut when she takes the tip into her mouth, clamping down hard, bathing the head with her hot tongue.
“Tabitha,” I growl, looking down at her.
She looks up at me, her eyes wide with wonder and lust, and I feel my dick growing stiff in her mouth. Watching her please me only makes me want her more. As much as I want to fuck her mouth, I want to be inside her more. Reaching down, I seize her by her arms, pull her to her feet, and claim her lips with mine. Sliding my hands down her arms, I snake them around her back to her bra strap and quickly unhook it, removing it from her body completely. Drawing back, I take in her full chest, which only lasts a moment, before I wrap her in my arms, lift her, and wrap my lips around a dark nipple.
She gasps from above, her fingers now fisting in my hair, pulling me closer, as I move to the bed. We fall to the bed, and I start to nibble on every newly revealed spot of flesh, mentally creating a road map of every inch of her body, making sure to pay close attention to her every response. One by one, I discover the parts of her body that bring her the most pleasure.
“Jeremiah, please,” she pleads from above. “Stop.”
I smile against her hip. “Stop what?”
“Stop teasing me.”
Hooking my fingers under her panties, I gradually slide them down her long legs and toss them to the floor before retracing my movements with my lips. I make sure to linger at the inside of her thigh before finally reaching her naked pussy. Raising a hand, I leisurely rub her clit, adding pressure when deemed necessary.
“You like that, don’t you?”
She nods.
“No, I want to hear you say it.”
She licks her lips. “Yes. Yes, I like it.”
I smile. “Do you want me?”
“Yes. Please!” she cries out when I apply pressure to her sensitive flesh.
I replace my fingers with my mouth. She gasps and lets out a throaty moan, all the while, arching her back off the bed when I press my tongue against her already swollen clit.
“Oh, shit!”
I force her legs apart and bury my face between her legs, sliding my tongue up and down and between her wet folds. She goes to push me away, like last time, but I growl and pull her closer, pushing my tongue inside her, licking and parting her delicate flesh. Her hips surge restlessly as I wrap my arms around her hips and grind her pussy into my mouth, my tongue fucking her deep.
“Oh, yes! Just like that!” she moans, swirling her hips.
“Cum for me, baby.”
And she does. With one last hard lick, she begins to writhe beneath me. Her mouth falls open, her eyes grow wide, and her back arches off the bed as she lets out a grave moan. Her fingers dig into the sheets, and her toes curl downward as her body continues to shudder from her orgasm. I take this time to crawl up the bed, kissing and touching various parts of her body, applying pressure in some places, and touching her lightly in others.
She leans up to claim my lips as I spread her legs and position myself between them. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
She nods. “Yes. Make love to me.”
With confirmation, I slowly push the tip in and watch her face twist up in both pain and pleasure. Trying to make this experience as painless as possible by fully preparing her body to take every inch of me, I slowly sink deeper inside her until she’s taken every inch. She bites her bottom lip as a single tear rolls from her eye. I use my thumb to wipe away her fallen tear then lower my lips to hers for a quick yet passionate kiss.
“Do you want me to stop?”
I go to pull out, and she wraps her legs around my waist, all the while, shaking her head, and then pulls me down into her. Her reaction is breathy and heavy. She arches her back from the bed and bites her lip hard and digs her nails into my back. Soon enough, her expressions of pain turn into expressions of pleasure, and her body begins to move in sync with mine. She starts lifting her hips to meet my every thrust.
“Damn. Baby, you’re so fucking tight,” I growl, pulling out to the tip then slipping back into her.
Her hands slide down my back, over my ass, and she pulls me deeper. “Oh, yeah. Baby, right there. Don’t stop,” she moans.
“Never.”
Slipping one hand between us, I start to rub her clit, pinching the sensitive bud with every thrust. When her body starts to shake beneath me and arch into me, I quicken my pace, causing her body to rock with me and the headboard to bang against the wall.
“Jeremiah!” she gasps breathlessly.
“Yes, baby?”
I lower my mouth to her throat and lick her skin, sliding my tongue up her neck to her ear, gently nibbling on her earlobe and thrusting my tongue into her ear.
“I can’t. … I can’t. … I’m about to cum,” she cries out.
Drawing back, I grab both her legs and lift them onto my shoulders.
“Cum for me, baby.”
Wrapping my arms around her legs, I pick up my pace and sink deeper. The sound of skin slapping against skin fills the room, along with the sounds of her moans and my grunts of pleasure.
“Oh fuuuuck!” she cries out.
She clamps down around me with a grip so tight it brings me to my own release. Her back arches off the bed in what looks like a painful angle, her mouth is hung open, and her eyes are closed. She cums around my dick, and I shoot my hot seed deep inside her, and I don’t stop thrusting into her until I’ve emptied every drop inside her.
I collapse on top of her, panting heavily, trying to catch my breath but failing miserably. Never has a woman taken my breath away. It makes me wonder what she’s capable of once she gets a little more experience.
“I’m sorry. Just give me a minute.”
“That was … mind-blowingly beautiful,” she gasps.
I nod and kiss her neck in agreement. “Yes, it was.”
I roll us onto our sides, remaining deep inside her, and hold her flush against myself. Never have I experienced anything like I just did with Tabitha. An emotional rush. Love. Desire. Lust. Happiness. I never could have imagined being with someone intimately could make me feel so many things at one time. But with Tabitha, I feel everything.
I kiss her hair and pull her closer. “I love you, Tabitha. God, I love you so much, and I promise to always hold you and never leave you.”
She wraps her arm around my middle and buries her face into my chest. “I love you, too, Jeremiah. And I promise to always keep you and to never leave you.”
In no time, Tabitha falls into a peaceful sleep.
Past
Jeremiah
(5)
Three Months Later:
“What are we doing here?” Melissa questions the moment we step into the store.
I turn to her. “I need your help.”
“With?”
“Picking out an engagement ring for Tabitha.”
Her eyes widen, and her lips part in shock. “You’re going to ask her to marry you?”
I nod.
“Oh. My. God!” she squeals, and it’s the f
irst time she’s shown emotion, other than dislike, around me. “She’s going to be so surprised.”
I laugh. “That’s the point.”
Melissa looks up at me then takes a big breath and crosses her arms. “Why did you ask me to help you? You could have asked Brooke, Barbara, or Amber. Why ask me?”
“Well, I figured you and I could spend more time together, you know, get to know each other all over again.”
“Why would I want to get to know a man who walked out on me and my mother?”
“Melissa, there are a lot of things you don’t understand about what happened between your mother and me.”
“Like?”
I ponder her question. Do I really want to tell this young girl that her mother, the mother she lost not even four months ago, cheated on me, and that was why I left? Do I really want to be that guy just so she can like me? No. I won’t make her like me by shitting on Keisha—I won’t. If I am going to gain her trust again, I am going to have to do it the old-fashioned way. Earn it.
I take a deep breath. “Nothing. Melissa, I really am sorry for just leaving like that without explaining everything.” I lift a hand to her arm. “It was a shitty thing to do, and I am willing to do whatever it takes to gain your forgiveness.”
She stares at me for a moment, her expression softening, then looks ahead of us. “You can start by joining me on the hunt for the perfect ring for Tabitha,” she says with a small smile.
I smile. “Great.”
“Hello, my name is Kelly. Welcome to Kay Jewelers. How may I be of assistance?”
Melissa and I look up and come face to face with an older white woman with dark, graying hair, brown eyes, dressed in a pencil-skirt suit. She looks to be in her late forties, but she looks to be aging well.
“Yes, we are looking for an engagement ring for my girlfriend,” I reply.
She smiles. “Do you have anything specific in mind?”
“We’re just going to look around first,” Melissa interrupts her. “We will let you know when we’ve found something.”
The woman smiles. “Alright. I will be at the counter if you need me.”