“You’re quiet.”
He glanced over at her when the car came to a stop at a traffic light. It was time for the mind seduction to begin. “I’m thinking.”
She lifted a brow. “About what?”
“What might or might not happen when we get back to your place.”
He heard her swift intake of breath. His candidness had surprised her. She hadn’t heard anything yet.
“What makes you think anything might happen? There’s a strong possibility I might not invite you in.”
He chuckled. “And I’m thinking it might be a damn good idea if you didn’t. You’re a nice girl and maybe I should try to keep it that way. After all, you’re close to my family.”
She frowned. “Your family nor mine has anything to do with what we decide to do.”
He nodded, glad to hear they shared the same opinion on the matter. Now back to seducing her mind. “I’d like to come in tonight,” he said, meaning every word.
“For coffee?” she asked, turning slightly in the seat to meet his gaze while they stopped at another traffic light.
“No, for you.”
His words hung between them in the close confines of the vehicle, making the interior sizzle. From the illumination of a streetlight, he could see her features and read the anticipation in her eyes as well as hear the irregular breathing coming from her lips. Lips he couldn’t wait to taste again.
“You’re pretty straightforward, aren’t you?” she asked when the car started moving again.
“Yes, I don’t like playing games. I believe I know and understand what we both want. Are you going to deny it?” His hand tightened on the steering wheel as he waited for her to respond.
“No, I won’t deny it.”
He released a deep breath; she had been honest with herself as well as with him. That meant a lot. He reached out and inserted a CD he had borrowed from Tyler into the CD player, thinking times like this called for a little Marvin Gaye. When “Let’s Get It On” kicked into play, he glanced over and noted she had eased the seat back and with all preliminaries out of the way and a clear understanding established between them, she had closed her eyes and was enjoying the ride home.
He smiled.
***
“Justice, wake up, you’re home.”
After bringing the car to a stop, he’d been tempted to kiss her awake but had decided not to give her neighbors anything to talk about. He watched as her eyes slowly opened and wondered if this is how she would look waking up in the mornings, irresistibly sexy.
“Sorry, I fell asleep on you.”
“That’s no problem.”
She glanced to her porch where she’d left a light burning. She returned her gaze to his, then paused, obviously giving herself time to get out the next words. “You still want to come in?”
“Definitely,” he said easily. He saw her throat tightened when she swallowed and was tempted to lean over and kiss the spot.
“All right.”
He got out of the car and walked around to open the door for her. Moments later they were walking side by side up to her door. He took a step back while she opened the door then followed her inside.
Justice’s pulse quickened when Blake closed the door. She hadn’t been able to keep her eyes off him all night. Awareness and male appreciation had consumed her the moment she had opened the door earlier that evening to find him dressed in a nice looking blue shirt and a pair of navy trousers. The sight of him had literally taken her breath away. The man was simply gorgeous.
She turned and watched as he stopped in front of the vase of flowers he had given her that now sat on the table in her living room. She couldn’t help wondering what he was thinking as he studied them and a delicious warmth settled low within her as she studied him, unable to look away.
He had told her a lot about himself at dinner and she had enjoyed his company. Like all the Savoys she’d gotten to know over the years, he came across as someone who would stand up for what he believed in, was loyal and dedicated to those he loved, and a person who strongly believed in doing what was right.
Justice thought his attitude was a good reflection on the way he’d been raised. His parents should be given credit for such an outstanding accomplishment and then there was Gramma Savoy, who played a vital part in all her grandchildren’s lives. Justice’s own grandmother had died when she’d been too young to really know her and cherished the part Gramma Savoy had in her own life. She’d always thought that Thelma Savoy was a person who was the ideal grandmother anyone would want to have. She praised you when you did something good and wouldn’t hesitate to give you a good old fashion dress-down if you did something bad.
As she continued to study Blake he slowly shifted his gaze from the flowers to her. She licked her bottom lips, feeling heat churning through her. Heat and desire.
“Thanks again for the flowers,” she said, getting more heated by the look in his eyes.
He covered the few steps separating them. “You’re welcome. I saw those particular ones and thought of you.”
She glanced over at the arrangement. “Really? Why?”
“Besides their beauty, I got the distinct impression that no matter how bleak the outlook of things may seem, they have the ability to brighten anybody’s day.”
The corners of Justice’s lips tilted into a smile. He had given her a touching compliment. “Like everyone else I do have my days.”
He chuckled, unable to deny that, since he’d seen her in action that first time. “All of us do,” he assured her. “But it didn’t take much to notice that you know when to give in and let go.”
Like I’m about to do now, she thought, as she watched him studying her mouth as if it were a treat he was dying to have. She breathed in a slow, deep breath, remembering their kiss that day and how she had longed to kiss him again. “Well, after hanging around Savoys long enough, a person gets smart. Tonya and I have been friends for years, so I learned quick.”
“And why haven’t our paths ever crossed before now?”
“Mainly because by the time Tonya and I were in high school your family had already moved away. The only time you came to visit was during the summers, and that’s when I had to spend time with my Dad since my parents were divorced.”
He nodded. “And why didn’t Bryan have to go away during the summers?”
She smiled, remembering those times. “Because he always managed to snag a summer job, so he got to visit Dad during the holidays.”
Blake didn’t want to talk about her and her brother’s summers any longer. In fact he didn’t want to talk at all. As far as he was concerned, they had talked enough already. But there was something he wanted to ask her, something he needed to know. “Did you have a good time tonight?”
She smiled. “Yes. Dinner was delicious and the atmosphere was …great.” She had started to say the atmosphere had been romantic because it had been. The table they’d been given had been in a private area with lit candles all around. She’d wondered if they’d gotten it by luck or had he asked for it.
“I’m glad because I wanted to make a good impression.”
“Well, you did,” she said softly, still not understanding why he would want to. It wasn’t as if they would be engaging in something long term.
“There’s one more impression that I want to make tonight,” he said, taking a step closer to her, coming so close she could smell his heated scent.
“And what impression is that?” she asked as a shiver coursed through her. His voice was low and husky and his proximity made goose bumps forming on her arms and he hadn’t touched her . . . yet. But she knew he would. He had to.
“This impression,” he said, gently pulling her into his arms and capturing her mouth, angling her head for better access. Their first kiss had been steamy; this one was definitely hot, Blake thought, mingling his tongue with hers. Unlike earlier that day when he’d taken his time, tonight he was in a hurried frenzy as he fought not to totally devour
the mouth he was convinced had been made just for kissing.
Just for kissing him.
Somehow that thought leaped into his mind and he had a feeling that it wouldn’t go away anytime soon, if ever. There was something about his attraction to her that didn’t make sense and hadn’t made sense since he’d first laid eyes on her. A warning signal buzzed in his mind letting him know he was damn close to losing it if he hadn’t lost it already. Sexual chemistry was some strong, heady stuff.
Slowly, he shifted positions to wedge his leg between hers, wanting her to feel how hard he was for her, and when he readjusted their bodies, he caught her womanly scent. It was stronger than it had been earlier which meant she was aroused and her body was letting him know it.
He deepened the kiss and placed his hands on the contours of her lush behind, fitting her even better to him and she followed his lead and curved her hand across his backside as well, as they continued to partake in the wet heat their mouths generated.
When breathing became necessary, he reluctantly pulled back and ended the kiss but his hand remained where it was. He couldn’t break the contact. He had to touch her.
She stared up at him and he didn’t know if the astonished look on her face was surprise that he had ended the kiss or if she was amazed at what they had just shared, which in his opinion had been even more hot and heavy than the kiss they’d shared earlier over at Tonya’s place.
Before giving her a chance to say anything, he leaned down and kissed her again, cutting no corners and giving no slack. And when he felt her knees weaken, he held her up, determined to see this through.
Without breaking the kiss he leaned slightly and began inching up the hem of her dress as a fierce and compelling need ripped through him. He wanted to touch her, feel her wetness and wondered if she would allow him to take such liberties and knew there was only one way to find out.
He slowly eased up her dress and shifting his body once again, he was able to continue the kiss while slowly caressing her. He made a low, guttural sound when he eased his fingers between the elastic of her thong and found what he wanted, her feminine core.
Her tongue jerked his in response the exact moment of contact and he swallowed her moan of pleasure. She was wet and hot and his fingers went to work to send her completely over the edge.
And he did.
Her body came apart in his arms with his fingers and he continued kissing her, refusing to release her mouth even for the scream she wanted to make. He could have lived a lifetime and not known a woman this passionate, this sensuous, this classy.
He removed his fingers from within her when her tremors began subsiding, and he slowly ended their kiss. He hugged her tight, not wanting to let her go. Giving her pleasure that way had meant a lot to him. When she no longer had to struggle for every breath she took, he eased back and lifted her chin with his finger to meet his gaze.
The flush that darkened her cheeks made her even more beautiful and desirable and she seemed dazed by what had just transpired between them. Dazed but not sorry. And he was glad of that.
“I want to see you again,” he said huskily. “I promised Tyler that I would go with him to Philly tomorrow and we’ll be gone for the next couple of days. But when I get back, may I come to see you? Take you out again?”
She breathed in deeply and he could tell she was pondering his words. “Blake, I’m not looking for anything serious,” she said softly. “I have a thing with commitments.”
He’d gathered as much from their earlier conversations. “And I’m not looking for anything serious either,” he said quietly, although conflicting thoughts were tumbling in his mind. But this was neither the time nor the place to try and figure things out. He would have two days away from her and her temptation to do that. “I’d like to spend the rest of my time with you while I’m here in Alexandria.” He saw a glimmer of uncertainty come into her eyes, then moments later it was gone. She knew what he was asking for. A vacation fling with no strings attached.
Justice thought of what he was offering, which technically was what she wanted. “All right, then. I’d love to see you when you get back,” she said.
He released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He had two days to get himself together and get his head back on straight.
Two days.
Eight
It had been over two days and he hadn’t gotten himself together and his head still wasn’t back on straight.
And he’d made the mistake of taking one of her photographs with him to Philly, the one of her dressed in that black peignoir, inhaling the scent of the flowers he had given her. Each time he gazed at that photo, something deep and profound would well up inside of him. It was something he didn’t understand and finally chalked it up as being a case of overpowering lust.
“You look nice. Are you going someplace?”
Blake smiled when his grandmother entered the room. She would be seventy-five years old her next birthday and to his way of thinking, she still got around pretty good. “Yes, I’m taking Justice to a movie.”
His grandmother smiled. “Now isn’t that nice. She’s such a nice girl.”
Blake lifted a brow. He knew, thanks to Tonya, that his grandmother, as well as his cousins, had gotten wind of the fact that he’d given flowers to Justice. And there was a good chance they also knew that he had taken her out and had plans to see her again. Tyler had even teased him about the possibility of him falling in love with her. He had laughed it off as being one of the craziest things he’d ever heard. Once he had recovered from laughing, his response had been that he wasn’t falling in love with anyone and had merely thought Justice was a nice person to spend some time with while in Alexandria. End of story.
He sighed. Evidently his grandmother was going to make sure it wasn’t the end of story. “Yes, she sure is nice, Gramma.”
“And she’s big-boned and strong. The kind of woman who’ll give her husband a lot of babies. Too bad she’s against ever marrying.”
Blake almost told his grandmother that Justice had it all figured out that she didn’t need a husband to have babies, but quickly decided not to. Besides, he was surprised his grandmother knew about Justice not wanting to ever marry.
“You know she doesn’t want to get married?”
His grandmother’s smile widened. “Of course I know. I consider Justice like one of my own.”
Blake nodded. In that case it meant she knew all Justice’s business, even things Justice probably didn’t want her to know. He was a living witness that you couldn’t keep anything from Thelma Savoy. Sometimes he often wondered if she was psychic.
“And just what do you know?” he asked, definitely interested.
“I know she thinks she can’t commit to a man because of her mother and her aunts.”
Blake raised a dark brow. “What about her mother and her aunts?”
“They’ve been married three times each and Justice looks at that as failing and she doesn’t ever want to fail at a marriage. She sees that as the ultimate collapse of one’s ability to hold on to something or someone.”
He shook his head, thinking he could see how she would think that way. At one time, so had he until he’d learned to move on. “But just because her mother’s and aunts’ marriages didn’t last doesn’t mean hers won’t.”
“But you’ll never convince her of that.”
He shrugged. And why would he want to? Thinking that way was her hang-up and not his. He checked his watch. “Well, I’d better go. Since Justice has a late meeting, we decided just to meet up at the theater.”
His grandmother nodded. “Give her my love and tell her to try and make it this Sunday for dinner. It’s Tyler’s birthday and I plan on baking him a cake.”
Blake licked his lips. He looked forward to eating a piece of his grandmother’s mouthwatering cake. “All right, I’ll tell her.”
***
The movie had been good but for the life of him he couldn’t remember much
of what he saw, Blake thought, as he followed closely behind Justice’s vehicle with his own. They had met at the theater to see Tyler Perry’s current flick. Blake had been there waiting for her when she pulled up, and had been so glad to see her that he had walked over to her and kissed her; glad the kiss she returned indicated she’d been glad to see him as well. And they had sat in the movies holding hands and sharing popcorn.
Her laughter at the scenes on the movie screen had turned him on and he’d sat there seeing everything, yet really not seeing anything. Instead his mind was preoccupied with all the things he wanted to do to her once they got to her place.
He took a deep breath when she pulled into her driveway. He was close on her taillights and pulled in right behind her and immediately shifted the automatic gear in park.
Quickly getting out of the car, he walked over to hers to open the door and silently, they strolled up the walkway to her front door. Just like before, he stepped back to give her space to open the door and once she did, he followed her inside. She turned on all the lights and his gaze immediately went to the flowers. They weren’t as vibrant as they had been that first day, but in his opinion they still looked good and were holding their own.
He closed the door and his gaze then shifted to Justice. She was wearing another dress, this one longer in length but it looked just as sexy on her. Man, she had some gorgeous legs and those thighs and hips were to die for. And he didn’t want to think about her curvy behind.
“I missed you,” he decided to say, breaking the silence in the room. “I know it might sound crazy but I couldn’t wait to get back. Tyler thinks I’m crazy because I kept rushing him to finish up his business.” He chuckled lightly. “I must be coming down with something.”
Justice smiled. “Well, whatever it is, it must be contagious because I’ve caught it. I missed you, too. So bad that I ached from it.”
ALL HE DESIRES (Voluptuous Woman Series) Page 15