Locked together, their bodies moved as one in a primeval rhythm. She had never known such incredible joy and love. Her whole body hummed with fulfillment. Their lovemaking was a song crescendoing higher and higher until it reached a note that shattered the universe around them.
She sank against him, hearing their ragged breathing harmonizing. Gradually she slipped against his side and drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER 12
Crystal stretched against Key’s velvety length, enjoying the sense of indulgence. Waking up next to him without a hangover, knowing she had the right to turn over and touch him, was sheer luxury. Smiling, she opened her eyes. He was propped on one elbow, gazing down at her.
Crystal flinched, tightening up in self-conscious awareness.
“What? Am I snoring?”
He shook his head slightly, brushing a lock of hair away from her face. “I enjoy watching you sleep.”
Crystal’s whole body melted as a rush of warmth went to her groin. She turned into him, pulled his head down to her, and threw one leg over his body.
Key purred contentedly, but didn’t totally relax. He put his forehead against hers. “That feels good, but I have a question first.”
“Oh?” She didn’t see how anything could be as important as that delicious little curve where his shoulder met his neck and the indentation that she tickled with her tongue.
He shivered and squirmed away from her. “Yeah,” he insisted. “Are we ready to tell Shonté about us?”
Crystal froze. Then she eased back against the mattress and rubbed her face with one hand. “Oh, lord, I don’t think I’m ready for that.” She looked at him. “Do you think we should?”
“I’ll let you decide. But if you don’t want her to know, I’ve got to bounce outta here.”
He rolled off the bed to his feet. In the shadowy darkness, Crystal watched him find his clothes and get dressed with quick energy. Her mattress sank under his weight when he sat down on the edge to put his shoes on.
“Crystal?”
“Hm?” She was already drifting off again.
“There is an us, isn’t there?”
Something in his quiet tone jerked her wide awake. In answer, Crystal surged up to her knees and threw her arms around him. He twisted to embrace her.
“Oh, Emerson. I want there to be. I don’t think I can resist you.”
He kissed her with a gentle suckle of her lips. “Good,” he whispered. “Don’t analyze it. Just feel it, baby. Because I want you too.”
Tasting his mouth, she pressed her body closer to him, longing to feel him inside her again. His hand traveled up and down her naked back, but then he pulled himself away. He trailed one hand along her jawline, whispered a soft, “I know, sweetheart. Later,” he promised and then he slipped from the room.
She listened to his footsteps pound down the stairs and to the opening and closing of the front door.
* * *
Key phoned her in the early morning while she was still in bed. It was Saturday, so there was no rush to get ready for work. They talked for almost an hour about nothing in particular, simply making up for the weeks when they had been unable to be fully open with one another.
He had to go out of town with his team today, but promised to call again later.
Hanging up, she indulged in a few minutes of smiling to herself over memories of the previous night. God, they were good together. She craved him more now than she had before. With gratitude, she realized Key was her best friend and sex hadn’t changed that. So far.
Crystal’s smile faded. And what was their future? Immediately she scolded herself for not being content.
Don’t analyze it. Just feel it, Key had told her.
She inhaled and exhaled with yoga-like deliberation. Still, the doubts pressed in. They came with memories of the man she’d lost her virginity to back in college. She’d liked him a lot, but sex with him had been a serious disappointment. Now she knew it was because he was on the down low, hiding his homosexuality. The discovery had been a shocking blow to her femininity, she now realized. A few years later, her second serious relationship had not been very exciting either. They went together for over a year before becoming intimate. After he graduated and moved away, they corresponded for awhile, he visited once, and then nothing.
She moved on to analyze her last serious relationship. She shuddered. Relationship, nothing. She’d met Gary Clapton shortly after she began her first job and it was lust at first sight. She’d lived in a dream-like fog for three months of brainless freakiness. They never went out on a real date, barely had a conversation. Being apart from him was always a relief but she kept going back like a moth to a flame, an addict to crack.
Crystal burrowed her face in her pillow in an attempt to wipe out the memories. After he moved away, she’d vowed she was never going to lose control of herself like that again. She had learned a lot about sex, but had virtually lost herself. Thank God, it wasn’t like that with Key.
She got out of bed, preparing to shower and get dressed. Recalling the wild affair with Gary, she realized that she had the same passion for Key but that it didn’t leave her feeling as if she lost herself. Instead, she was more than whole this morning and couldn’t wait to see him again.
She paused as she heard the vacuum start to hum in Shonté’s room across the hall.
How was she going to reveal this to Shonté? Her friend was going through a difficult transition herself, breaking up with Graham and untangling herself from Trevor. Somehow the idea of being a couple in front of Shonté made Crystal uncomfortable. Of course, Shonté would tease them both mercilessly. The two girls always talked to one another about their love life, but how could she do that when her lover was Shonté’s brother? Ewww. Crystal felt a silly giggle bubble up in her chest.
She pulled herself together with a dismissive sigh. There was plenty of time to reveal the news to Shonté. Key would be gone till tomorrow. She’d wait until they could do it together.
She and Shonté talked only briefly before Crystal took her turn at the household grocery shopping. By the time she returned, Shonté had already left for rehearsal. Crystal guessed the rehearsals must be getting pretty intense since the play was scheduled to open this coming weekend.
How to tell Shonté? The question wouldn’t be quieted no matter how she tried to busy herself. By the middle of the afternoon, bored, she decided to go to the theater to watch rehearsal. Maybe afterwards they’d have a chance to talk and she could work around to the news about her and Key.
On arrival at the theater, she was surprised to find a lone stagehand unlocking the building and turning on the lights.
“Where’s Shonté Emerson?” she asked.
“She should be here shortly. We’re supposed to start rehearsing at five.”
“Oh.”
Shonté had left home over three hours ago. Realization that Shonté was still seeing Trevor hit Crystal like a door slammed in her face. Shonté hadn’t mentioned Trevor for a while. Crystal had assumed that the relationship with Trevor was over. The thought that she and Shonté were keeping secrets about their love life from one another wounded her.
“I’ve seen you,” the stagehand said in a friendly voice. “You’re her friend. You can wait inside if you want to.”
She followed him in without a word and waited as the actors and crew trickled in.
Just before four o’clock, Shonté and Trevor came in, wrapped in one another’s arms and laughing together. Crystal stood in the center aisle and waited until they saw her.
Trevor stumbled at sight of her and Shonté stiffened, her eyebrows lifting.
“Crystal. What are you doing here?”
Crystal met her gaze levelly. “I thought I’d surprise you, watch rehearsal, maybe take you to dinner.”
Shonté’s cheeks flushed. “You were spying on me!”
“Actually I wasn’t. As it turns out I’m the one who got the surprise.”
“Well, go ahead and lec
ture me,” Shonté said in a sullen tone.
Crystal let her gaze travel up and down her friend. Sadness welled up inside her. “I don’t have anything to say to you. It’s your life.”
Shonté blinked, her expression disbelieving. She looked at Trevor, then back at Crystal.
“Okay. I guess I’ll get started.”
She turned to Trevor with a brief kiss and eased past Crystal toward the stage. Crystal watched her friend join the other actors and the director on the stage. She longed to have the words that would penetrate her friend’s stubborn, self-destructive streak. Since she hadn’t been successful at it in all these years, she wondered if it would take some kind of professional intervention. But would Shonté accept that?
“Hey, there, new Crystal.”
She jumped slightly. She had completely forgotten Trevor Devlin standing behind her. She turned and gazed at him as if he were a bug on a slide in her microscope.
“Excuse me, Dr. Devlin.” She made a move to pass him, but he sidestepped into her path.
“Call me Trevor.” He pulled off his glasses to give her the full effect of his soulful bedroom gaze. “You know I can’t help noticing that you’re looking most delectable lately.”
“Thank Shonté for that,” she said through clenched lips. She’d like to tell him what she really thought of him.
“She definitely deserves some accolades. I like the improvements.” His gaze swept her body and then he grinned at her. “Why don’t you have coffee with me sometime?”
Crystal was repulsed. Why couldn’t Shonté see what a slimy specimen Trevor was?
“I’m busy,” she muttered and left the building.
It was only later that she realized she hadn’t told Shonté about her affair with Key. To her surprise, guilt didn’t disturb her. If Shonté could keep secrets, then so could she.
When Key called that night, she immediately spilled out her news. “Key, I went to tell Shonté about us and I caught her with Trevor.
“Who’s Trevor?” Key asked, his tone confused.
“Dr. Dawg.”
“Oh.”
“When she broke up with Graham I thought she was getting herself together. But no, she’s still on this path to self-destruction.”
“I’m sorry, baby. I know how much you care about Shonté. This must be eating you up inside. Listen, I hate to see her acting this way too, but she won’t listen to reason.”
Crystal closed her eyes, recognizing the truth of his words. “Key, what am I going to do?”
He gave a low growl of frustration. “Crystal, I keep telling you to let her make her own mistakes. You don’t have to take care of her all her life, you know.”
“I know. But she’s so easily hurt, Key.”
“Shonté?” His voice rang with incredulity.
Crystal sputtered on a laugh. “I know, Key, she seems all tough, but she’s been through so much.”
“What about what she’s put you through, Crystal? She takes advantage of you. I love my sister, I’d do anything for her if she asked. But I won’t let her use me. That’s what you do. Whenever she has a crisis, there you are to pick up the pieces.”
“What’s wrong with that? She’s my friend. I would hope I was there for her.”
“But is she going to be there when you need her?”
Crystal’s eyes widened. “Of course she will, Key.”
He started to say something, then broke it off. Instead he sighed. “Crystal, I don’t want to talk about her. I called to tell you how much I miss you.”
“Oh, Key!” A flood of pleasure warmed her. It was so incredible that this man seemed so into her. She had never thought of herself as sexy, but Key’s words and touches told her he found her irresistible. How could she regret this heady fulfillment? They talked about what they wanted to do to one another when he got home, getting gushy and giggly. Finally hanging up, Crystal was so horny she thought she would explode. She lay on the couch in a hazy daydream.
She was jerked out of her pleasure by the opening of the front door. Shonté paused on the threshold before moving in and closing the door behind her. She started to walk past Crystal without a word.
“Aren’t you spending the night with Dr. Dawg?” Crystal asked with a sour edge.
“No.” Shonté’s voice was clipped. She kept walking.
“Do you know he tried to pick me up after you left us alone at the theater?” she called after her.
Shonté froze, then slowly turned to look at Crystal. Her jaw was so tight her cheekbones looked as if they were about to pop out of her skin.
Crystal regretted her words as soon as they were out of her mouth. On the other hand, Shonté should know how low Trevor was capable of going.
“Trevor Devlin is a dog and would cheat on you in a minute!”
Shonté’s eyebrows arched high on her forehead.
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
Crystal was affronted. “Why would I lie to you? Have I ever lied to you?”
Shonté’s face flushed with twisted anger, her eyes wild. “You’ve always been jealous of my relationship with Trevor! When was the last time you had a man? You’re jealous that I’m getting the best sex of my life while you turn into a dried-up old witch! Now you’re imagining that Trevor wants you. You? Hah!”
Crystal’s lashed out in retaliation. “How can you be so stupid! I can get a man of my own if I want to! As a matter of fact—”
“Oh please!” Shonté cut her off. “Are you talking about your one-night stand weeks ago? You’ve got some nerve lecturing me about Trevor. Is that all you’re capable of? You’re nothing but a whore!”
Crystal gasped with outrage. Her legs trembled so much she didn’t know if she could stand up.
Now Shonté eyed her with a pity. “To think I always looked up to you, Crystal. I thought you were so much better than me. But you’re just as flawed as I am. I will never listen to you again.”
She turned and walked up the stairs, her slim body held with dignity.
Reaction washed over Crystal in alternate waves of heat and cold, leaving her sick to her stomach. She dropped her face into her hands. Oh my God. How could I have screwed up this badly? The one thing she could be sure of was that she wasn’t about to tell Shonté about her relationship with her brother now. It would be awful for Shonté to learn that Key was her one-night stand.
* * *
When Key called late Sunday afternoon to tell her he was back from his trip, she went to his apartment.
“Did you tell her?” he asked as soon as she walked in the door.
“No,” Crystal admitted, twisting her mouth. “I wanted to, but we had a huge fight. She hates me, Key.” She bit her lip in an effort to hold back her tears.
“Listen, honey. I don’t want to talk about her. She’s got nothing to do with you and me.”
When he took her into his arms again, Crystal gave in to him with a sigh.
He just didn’t understand how much Shonté had been through. Crystal brooded on the fact that she had sworn her secrecy to Shonté. She didn’t believe Key would remain indifferent if he knew Shonté’s past. With sad clarity, Crystal knew she had to bear the consequences of that secret, along with Shonté.
As if to pull her mind from distraction, Key kissed her with deep thoroughness. She clung to him, her desire igniting. But Key pulled back with a sigh.
He held her chin in a delicate caress and spoke with gentle seduction. “I gotta finish up some work, baby, before I can give you my full attention.”
Crystal gazed at him wide-eyed, gathering her wits. Oh, lord, I’m so hooked on this man. She didn’t think she was as crazy as she had been with Gary, but she’d have to be careful not to make Key think she was some mindless, sex hungry junkie.
She curled up beside him on the couch to watch a video of the weekend’s game. He filled out paperwork and wrote notes as he studied the playback. She had to admit that being with him brought out the best in her. He made her see be
auty in just about everything. And after every meeting, he left her wanting more. But she had the feeling he was still holding some essence back from her. Maybe it was his background; his early traumatic years had taught him to hold back. She’d just have to accept that if she wanted to be with him. For once she wasn’t going to be logical or rational.
They had Chinese food delivered and settled back to eat as Key finished up his work.
“So your team isn’t going to the championship bowl this year?” Crystal asked. Last night while she tried to sleep in the empty apartment, she’d realized there was another obstacle in the way of their relationship. If only it could be just the two of them in a world of their own.
Key gathered trash from the large coffee table into a plastic bag. “No. This weekend was our last game of the season. But the kids are fine with that. You know I encouraged a lot of them to sign up for the Big Brother program at the beginning of the year. We’re going to have a big party with their little brothers at the skating rink in two weeks. You can come if you want.”
Crystal smiled at the man who was her friend and lover as he rejoined her on the couch. “I’m so proud of you, Key.”
He squirmed in embarrassment. “What do you mean?”
She moved closer on the couch to put her arms around his shoulders. “You care about those kids so much. Not just their athletic ability, but their character too. Have I ever told you what a wonderful role model you are?”
He shrugged, his mouth twitching in self-deprecatory emotion. “It’s not a big deal. I just want to pass on the break I got when Mom and Pop adopted me. Some of my players wouldn’t be where they are now if somebody hadn’t intervened to keep them in school and on track. Now they get a chance to pay it forward.”
“I still think you’re the most incredible man at Hope University.” She snuggled against him, overwhelmed once more by the depth of her feelings for Key.
“I’m glad somebody thinks so,” he murmured.
She looked up with swift concern. “What’s wrong, Key?”
“Nothing serious. Dave—Coach Welch—found out I was involved with Marcus and his girlfriend.”
Who's That Lady? Page 15