“What are you doing here?” she whispered, running both hands over his stubble-shadowed chin and his bare chest. He wore nothing but a baggy pair of sweat pants. She was annoyed with him for presenting her with such delectable temptation under these conditions. She took a step back, away from the intoxicating touch of his body.
His eyes raked up and down her, like a feather light touch. Her nipples tightened in readiness. “Why don’t you come take your bath in my parents’ new Jacuzzi tub?”
“Oh, Key! I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Come on. Nothing will happen.” He tugged on her hand, his voice teasing.
“I shouldn’t.”
“Don’t you trust yourself with me?” he asked, lifting his brows.
“No, I don’t trust us alone together. We’re in your mother’s home, Key!”
“We’ve been alone together before in their house. For God’s sake, I’m inviting you to look at the bathroom, not get in bed with me.”
She shushed him frantically, darting a look around at the other doors.
She heard sounds from the kitchen, nothing from the bedrooms.
“Where’s your dad?”
“Pop’s gone to pick up Aunt Ida, and Mom’s downstairs cooking.”
“Still—
“Oh, come on. Take a look. If you want to take a bath, I’ll go downstairs like a good boy.”
She allowed him to pull her along.
The bedroom was empty, the double bed tousled, and a half unpacked suitcase spilled its contents on the floor. The sound of running water led her to the open door across the room.
The tub was half full. Flowery-smelling steam rose out of the bubbling water and a tray with two cut crystal bottles was on a table beside the tub.
A gasp of wonder escaped her.
“I love it,” she breathed.
Key gazed at her, his smile mirroring her delight. “All night long I kept picturing you in here.”
Crystal noticed a closed door opposite her. She pointed at it, making a questioning face at Key.
“My parents’ room.”
She clutched her robe around her. “They’re not—”
“No, no,” he assured her. “It locks from both sides.”
She looked around again. “So they put this in for—themselves?”
“It would seem so.” He leaned over and hit a switch on the wall. “Hey, check this out.”
The lights dimmed and the room filled with the seductive jazz trumpet of Wynton Marsalis.
Crystal doubled over with smothered giggles. “Git it, Joe and Vonetta!”
She edged closer to look into the bubbling porcelain pool and then met his gaze. “You don’t think they—in here?”
He waved his hand in a shooing motion, a pained frown contorting his features. “Okay, that just killed my mood. I’ll leave you to take a bath.”
After he left, she closed the door, breathing heavily. She couldn’t believe she was doing this.
But the water looked so warm and inviting. With one more quick glance at the closed bathroom door Key had just gone through, she began to slip out of her robe and pajamas.
In moments she was sinking into the luxurious bubbles. Jets of water soothed her. One hit a sensitive spot between her legs, making her gasp. Geez, with this, a woman could do without a man!
With a breathless chuckle, she adjusted her position so the jets sprayed on other muscles. She let her head fall back on the rim of the tub and closed her eyes, absorbing the heady scents and the enticing music.
Key had been thinking about her—about them—in this tub. She let her mind carry through with that fantasy: the absorbing pleasure of both their bodies pressed up against one another while jets of water pulsed around them. His hand would slip between her thighs and she’d feel the mass of his hardened shaft against her belly….
A sound from the bedroom had her jerking upright, eyes wide. Had a door just closed? She twisted her head to stare at the bathroom door. She’d locked it, hadn’t she? When the knob turned, she realized she hadn’t and scrambled on the slick porcelain, thrashing water.
Key slipped through the door, balancing a small tray holding a glass of juice and a pastry.
Crystal gasped and plunged under the water to her chin.
“Key!”
His eyes were laughing at her, but there was craving beneath the laugh. He sat the tray down on the table beside the tub that held the crystal glasses. Then he leaned back against the closed door.
“Relax. I’m not going to assault you.”
She looked nervously at the bulge in the crotch of his sweat pants. Even though they were baggy, they couldn’t disguise the stiffened length.
He sighed and half turned away. “Yeah, I want you. I always want you, Crystal. But I can wait.”
Still covered with bubbles, she bit her lip, unable to take her eyes off his erection. “I, I guess so.”
He pointed at the tray. “I imagined you might like a little snack.”
“Thanks,” she said awkwardly. “You’re going now?”
He opened his mouth, closed it and finally spoke in a rough voice. “I enjoy looking at you. I’d like to stay.”
Excitement at the thought of him watching her bathe, touch herself…Quickly she extinguished the image. Doing that would have her begging him to join her in the tub in minutes.
She didn’t notice he’d taken a couple of steps closer. “Come on,” he murmured. “You want me here.”
“No,” she whispered.
Slowly he stretched out his hand toward her. “I meant what I said. I won’t make love to you. Not now. But I can help you to relax.”
Brushing aside the foam, he trailed his fingertips across her collarbone.
Crystal gasped and her hips bucked, making the water slosh against the sides of the tub.
His eyes blazed with satisfaction. “You are sensitive, aren’t you? Come on, sweetie, let me help you relax.”
She was incapable of speech as his hands slowly sought out her shoulders and began a gentle, firm massage.
She gave in to the pleasure, relaxing back into his hands.
He moved his wet hands up her shoulder to her neck, massaging the tight tendons.
Crystal purred encouragement.
“You like this?”
“Oh yes.”
“Then just relax and let me pleasure you. And no matter what,” he added, his fingers trailing down the side of her neck, “you can’t make any noise.”
From the look in his eyes, she knew he was going to make it very difficult for her to follow those instructions.
He kneaded the spot between her shoulders at the base of her neck. The combination of steamy water and rubbing hands had her pleasantly drunk.
“Lay on your stomach,” he instructed.
She turned over, her stomach on the slick porcelain, her body curved in a bow to accommodate the slope of the tub. Her face rested on the edge. His hands slid up and all the way down to her hips. She let out a groan of pure pleasure.
“Oh my God, how do you do that?”
“I’m a kinesiologist, remember? I’ve studied the body. I know just where to touch you to make you shiver, make you flinch. Just how much pressure to loosen muscles and exactly how much further to push it, so that you flutter on the verge of pain. I know how torment can bring its own kind of pleasure, titillation without hurting. I can make you melt in my hands, baby. I can turn you inside out. Just by touching you.”
“Yes,” she moaned.
“I like to touch you, Crystal. You respond to me like nobody else. The slightest brush of my hands will make you writhe, won’t it?”
She was about to spring from the water and pull him in with her. Just then a door slammed somewhere nearby, startling them both and freezing them.
Her heart hammered.
“Mom?” called Shonté’s voice in the hallway.
Giving her a pat on the bottom, Key slipped away, leaving her alone and horny to stag
ger from the tub. She grabbed the glass of orange juice and gulped it down in one swallow.
By the time she dressed and put on makeup, she felt composed enough to join the family downstairs. Joe returned with Aunt Ida, friends of the family were picked up at the airport, and local guests began to arrive.
Dinner was extended and accented by conversation and laughter. Afterwards, some of them plopped in the family room to watch the game on TV while the rest talked and gossiped.
They awakened late the next morning, trickling into the kitchen one by one. There were coffee, hot cinnamon rolls and lots of leftovers.
No Jacuzzi meeting this morning. The overnight guests had ousted Key to the pullout couch in the family room while Shonté and Crystal made room for Aunt Ida in their room. Ninety-five-year-old Aunt Ida had to sleep hooked up to a noisy respirator and she went to the bathroom three or four times a night. Getting in and out of bed each time involved much grunting, groaning and slow, noisy shuffling to get to her walker. Crystal tried to help her the first time, but the old lady was startled and screamed, setting off Masai’s barking from his bed in the hallway. Vonetta came in to calm the confused old lady. Crystal went back to her air mattress on the floor. The next time the old lady started to get up, she put a pillow over her head and gritted her teeth.
Shonté was the last to arrive downstairs, looking tousled and adorable.
“Mom, I can’t eat a thing.”
Her mother fussed over her, offering juice, coffee or tea.
“When are we leaving?” Shonté asked Key.
“Either tomorrow or Sunday,” he murmured.
“Have you got something to do?” asked Joe. “I haven’t even had a chance to talk to you, baby girl!”
She fidgeted a little. “Oh, just the usual. Work and a little acting.”
“She just finished a wonderful performance,” Crystal broke in. “You should have been there! The audience loved her.”
Abruptly, she remembered that the stage had not been the only drama last weekend. She flinched slightly and tried not to look at Shonté. She felt the other girl tense up also.
“It was just a little local thing,” Shonté said, her voice a deprecating drawl. “Nobody will even remember it by this time next year.”
“Are you proud of yourself, baby?” Vonetta asked quietly, her gaze leveled on Shonté.
“I guess.” She shrugged.
“That’s all that matters then, isn’t it?”
Shonté wrinkled her nose. “Is it, Momma? Shouldn’t I be making a difference in someone’s life?”
“Is that what would make you proud?”
Her chin lifted. “I guess it would,” she said as if the thought was new to her.
The other overnight guests came into the room and helped themselves to breakfast.
Vonetta stood up. “What’s everyone doing today?” she asked.
Key said, “I’m going with Pop to take Aunt Ida back to the nursing home.”
“Elder care,” Joe growled. Sending his aunt to the home had been a difficult decision.
“Why don’t the rest of us go shopping, then?” Shonté suggested.
CHAPTER 18
Key helped his father pack Aunt Ida and her equipment into his father’s Envoy wagon and then rode with them on the hour long drive to her residential facility.
They were both quiet for the first part of the return drive. Key knew that his father experienced some guilt about leaving Aunt Ida in the home. Watching his father walk the short distance between the entryway and the car gave Key a pang. The sunlight turned Joe Emerson’s grizzled hair to silver, and Key noticed the stoop of his shoulders and the stiff movements of his steps as he heaved himself up into the passenger side of the wagon. Key was pierced by the knowledge that his parents were aging and wouldn’t be around forever. The thought gave him a shock of panic. In all his life, they had been the one constant he could always count on.
“Feeling okay, Pop?” he asked after a long silent interval.
Joe seemed to rouse from his private reverie. “Oh, yeah, great as can be expected for a man my age.”
“Age is no excuse for you not to take care of yourself,” Key protested. “You know, there are exercise programs you and Mom should get into that will lower your stress and strengthen your bones. I’ve been doing some reading about Tai Chi—”
Joe patted his arm with an indulgent smile. “We’re doing fine, Son,” he said.
They were both quiet for a moment.
“How about you? Has that knee been bothering you lately?”
“Not much. Every now and then I forget and do something crazy. But I work out and keep the muscles toned. That’s my field, you know.”
“I know. I couldn’t be more proud of you, son.”
“Thanks, Pop. But I’m basically just a physical therapist with a degree.”
“Oh, no sir!” Joe shook his head vehemently. “You have a gift, son. You have a natural athletic ability and you’ve studied how the body works. You also know how to work with people, bring out the best in them, physically and spiritually. I’ve watched the way you work with those kids on your teams and the volunteer work you used to do in hospitals. You’re fulfilling your potential.”
Key grinned self-consciously. Joe easily gave compliments like that, but even after all these years, Key felt warm gratitude for the words. He knew how lucky he was to have been taken in by a couple like Joe and Vonetta Emerson. He hated to think what his life would have been like if he had stayed on the streets or gotten caught in the labyrinth of social service institutions. Once more he renewed his inner vow to make them proud of him.
“There’s only one thing more that would make my life complete,” Joe went on. “Vonetta and I are just waiting for you or Shonté to bless us with some grandkids, and then we’ll be delirious. Not that I’m pressing or anything,” he added with a self-mocking lilt in his voice.
Key chuckled. His father had been joking about this for the last couple of years. “I don’t think I’m ready for kids.”
“The way you are with those kids on your team, there’s no doubt in my mind.”
“That’s different. They’re teenagers and I’m not totally responsible for them.”
“Don’t you want children? Eventually, of course.”
Key squirmed in his seat, surprised by this new persistence. “I’m in no hurry, Pop. I’m satisfied with my life.” I just want to make love to Crystal until my bones melt.
“Come on, we all want to be loved. Why not let a woman love you? Isn’t it time you start thinking about the next stage of your life?”
“Maybe. I just don’t know if I’m ready though.”
His father coughed low in his throat. “Is anybody ever ready? Love is never easy, but it’s wonderful just the same.”
Another long stretch of silence went by. Then Joe asked quietly, “Are you afraid?”
Key started and glanced at his father. “Why would you say that?”
“You had a hard start in life, Son. When you came to us, it took you a long time to accept our love, to trust us. I would hate to think you’d miss out on a full life because of some old baggage.”
Key sighed. He knew that he did have a tendency to hold back some emotional reserves. But this conversation was too heavy for him right now, when all he had on his mind was Crystal.
His parents would be ecstatic to have her as a daughter-in-law, he believed. But neither of them was ready for marriage. She wouldn’t even move in with me. The thought was still a sore spot.
No, he would enjoy every day he had with her now, just the way things were, because he wasn’t sure he was going to get forever. She would eventually want something more.
Key looked out the windshield at the road sweeping ahead of them, letting his father’s words sink in.
“I’ll think about it, Pop. Okay?”
* * *
On Saturday, Shonté took off again in Key’s car in search of the few sales she had missed. The gue
sts went with Key and Joe on a sightseeing trip.
Crystal helped clean up a little around the house. Worn out from the weekend, she went up to her room after lunch for a power nap. When she got up, the house was quiet. She padded around, but everyone seemed to be gone until she walked out on the enclosed porch outside the kitchen. Vonetta used it as her art studio.
“There you are. I thought I’d been forgotten.”
Vonetta smiled at her. “Joe, Key, Tracy and Alex are still out, and Shonté is still shopping.”
Vonetta gestured to a futon where a thick quilt was draped. Crystal curled up on the cushions, snuggling down in the quilt. Masai had been sleeping near the space heater, but jumped up to lie against her. The sunny porch overlooked the river flowing behind the house. The coolness in the air had Vonetta wearing a bulky sweater. The sun was sinking across the river, casting a magical crimson glow.
“I love this house,” Crystal said.
She watched Vonetta brush strokes of color on a large canvas.
“I know you do, honey. Don’t you forget you’ll always be welcome wherever we have a home.”
“I love being part of your family, with you and Mr. Joe and Key and Shonté. I want it to always be that way.”
“Is that why you guys were arguing when you said you weren’t coming?”
Crystal was taken aback by her observation. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Honey, the harder you hold on to things the more slippery they become.”
“Shonté tells me I’m too rigid. I thought I had a handle on life, but it seems to be broken lately.”
Vonetta’s expression darkened. “Shonté. She’s unhappy about something.”
“I—” Crystal began uncertainly.
Vonetta waved her paintbrush in the air. “No, no, I’m not asking you to tell me anything. But I know what I see. She’s so restless, always has been. But lately, there’s something else.”
She dabbed at her paint mixture for a moment. “We’re glad you live with her. Just make sure she remembers that we love her and nothing will change that, okay?”
Under Vonetta’s intense gaze, Crystal nodded silently. Vonetta turned back to the canvas. She mixed paints on her tray to create a vivid blue. Crystal stared at the shade. A little white, some blue, a dab of brown, all blending into something new and unique.
Who's That Lady? Page 22