The Blackstone Promise

by Rochelle Alers

  Raising her arms, Veronica circled his neck, pulling his head down. Then she kissed him, offering all of herself—holding nothing back. She kissed him with a hunger that belied her outward calm. Her tongue slipped between his parted lips, tasting, testing and savoring the flavor and texture of his mouth.

  Kumi kissed her, his slow, drugging kisses masking the explosive fire roaring unchecked through his body. There was something about Veronica that wanted him to forgo a lingering foreplay. He hadn’t known her long, but it felt as if he’d been waiting for her for years—for all of his life.

  His lips continued to explore her soft, lush mouth, as his fingers were busy undoing the buttons on her blouse. The silken garment parted and he pulled back to stare at her heaving chest. A groan escaped him when he feasted on the fullness of a pair of golden breasts tipped with large nut-brown nipples clearly outlined under a sheer white bra.

  The image of a child suckling from her ripe breasts—his child—flashed through his mind and he froze. Did he love Veronica enough to offer marriage? Did he love her enough to hope she would ever bear his child?

  Yes, the inner voice whispered to him. He wanted Veronica as his wife and the mother of his children, but he would wait to ask her, wait until she’d come to love him as much as he loved her.

  Sliding his palms under her back, he released the hook on her bra, eased the thin straps off her shoulders and then slid it off. He stared at her for a full minute before closing his eyes to conceal the lust in his gaze.

  “You are perfect,” he murmured in French.

  Veronica lay motionless, watching the gamut of emotions cross her soon-to-be-lover’s face as he continued to slowly undress her. Desire pulsed her veins like a slow-moving stream of burning lava incinerating everything in its wake.

  It was her turn to close her eyes when he removed her blouse, jeans and shoes. Only her panties remained—a thin barrier concealing her femininity from his gaze and his possession. She opened her eyes and stared at him as he left the bed to undress. Watching intently, she admired the muscles in his long, ropy arms as he pulled the cotton sweater over his head.

  Her mouth went suddenly dry when he bent over to remove his boots. Turning his back, he unsnapped his jeans, pushing them down over his firm hips. She breathed audibly through parted lips as he removed his briefs. He paused, retrieving the small packet of protection from a pocket of his jeans and slipping it on his redundant erection, and then turned to face her. The shadowy light from the lamp in the sitting area silhouetted his tall muscular body. Her gaze slipped down the broad expanse of chest covered with a fine layer of dark hair, flat, hard belly and then even lower to the rigid flesh jutting majestically between powerful thighs.

  Chapter Eight

  Veronica gasped as his blood-engorged arousal brushed her inner thigh. Instinctively, her body arched toward him, she caressing the length of his spine, and her fingernails raising goose bumps along his flesh.

  Kumi’s tongue explored the skin on her neck and shoulders, moving down to stake his claim on her entire body. His mouth covered the peaks of her breasts, teeth tightening on the turgid nipples. He didn’t just love her—he worshiped her, ignoring her soft moans, as he tasted the taut flesh over her flat belly. Her moans escalated to gasps when he eased her panties down her hips and legs, tossing them aside.

  Sitting back on his heels, Kumi surveyed the exquisite perfection of the woman with whom he’d fallen in love. He was glad he’d waited for her, because he couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept with a woman.

  Sinking back down to the mattress, he rested his cheek on her belly, brushing tender kisses over the velvety flesh. Moving lower, he left a trail of moisture before he buried his face between her thighs. His hot breath seared the tangled curls concealing the warm moistness of her femininity.

  Veronica wasn’t given the opportunity to react when she felt Kumi’s tongue lathe her dormant flesh. Her body bucked as his teeth found and gently worried the swollen nodule hidden in the folds at the apex of her thighs. She writhed in exquisite ecstasy, her chest heaving from a sensual assault that made it difficult for her to draw a normal breath.

  “Kumi, Kumi, Kumi…”

  His voice became a litany as she felt herself drowning—drowning in a flood tide of sweetest agony that threatened to shatter her into thousands of particles of sexual bliss.

  Passion pounded, whirling the blood through her heart, chest and head until she was mindless with desire for a man she hadn’t planned to love.

  Shock after shock slapped at her when Kumi’s finger replaced his tongue once he moved up her body. His mouth swooped down over hers, permitting her to taste herself on his lips.

  His hand worked its magic as he gently eased a second finger into her, moving them in and out of her tender celibate flesh in a quickening motion that matched the movement of her hips, a pulsing growing stronger with each stroke. Waves of ecstasy throbbed through Veronica and she swallowed back cries of release. She did not want it to end—not now—not when she’d waited twenty years to rediscover a passion she thought was beyond her.

  Kumi felt the tight walls pulse around his fingers, and without warning he withdrew his hand and positioned his rigid flesh at the entrance to her feminine sex. Guiding his maleness with one hand, he pushed slowly, registering Veronica’s gasps against his ear.

  “I’ll try not to hurt you,” he whispered softly, gentling her, while he gritted his teeth against the passion threatening to erupt before he entered her tight body. “Relax, baby, relax,” he crooned over and over as each inch of his blood-engorged flesh disappeared into the throbbing folds squeezing him like a hand in a glove a size too small.

  Veronica felt Kumi’s hardness fill every inch of her body, reviving her passion all over again. He pushed gently, in and out, setting a strong thrusting rhythm she followed easily. She rose to meet his thrusts, her hips moving of their own accord, their bodies in perfect harmony with one another.

  Her fingernails bit into the tight flesh over his hips as she once again felt the escalating throbbing searching and seeking a means of escape. She and Kumi had become man and woman, flesh against flesh. He’d become her lover and she his, and together they found the tempo that bound their bodies together.

  If possible, Kumi felt his flesh swell and become harder, as he tried to absorb Veronica into himself. Her eager response matched his, while his hunger for her intensified. He wanted to lie in her scented embrace forever; lie between her thighs for a lifetime. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted any woman he’d ever known.

  Heat rippled under his skin, settling at the base of his spine. He knew it wasn’t long before it would be over. It would take less than a minute for him to spill his passions into the latex sheath protecting the woman he loved from an unplanned pregnancy.

  He withdrew from her, but seconds later he anchored her legs over his shoulders. He reentered her with a strong thrust, his gaze fixed on her glistening face. The memory of her expression would be branded in his mind for an eternity as he memorized the curve of her lush parted lips, fluttering eyelids and trembling breasts, as she was aroused to a peak of desire that swept away the fear that had haunted her for two decades.

  Kumi quickened his cadence and within seconds he, too, closed his eyes, lowered his head and groaned deeply in his throat as the hot tide of passion swept through him, leaving an awesome, powerful and pulsing climax that radiated from his core.

  He did not know where he found the strength, but he withdrew from her body and collapsed, facedown, beside her. Draping an arm over her belly, he kissed the side of her neck.

  Veronica flashed a sated smile, but didn’t open her eyes. “Kumi?” He moaned softly in response. “I love you.” Her voice was soft, the admission reverent.

  Raising his head, he stared at her profile. In a motion t
oo quick to follow, he pulled her over his chest, her legs resting between his. Burying his nose in her hair, he kissed her scalp.

  “Thank you, my darling.”

  They lay together, savoring the aftermath of their lovemaking and a love that filled both with a gentle peace that promised forever.

  Veronica eased out of Kumi’s loose grip on her body, slipping out of the bed. His soft snoring faltered, and then started up again. Grimacing, she made her way to the bathroom. She ached where she hadn’t realized she had muscles.

  Turning on a light in the bathroom, she closed the door softly behind her. Walking over to a black marble Jacuzzi, she pressed a dial, then brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth before stepping into the warm swirling waters.

  She lounged in the tub, the water caressing her tender flesh and unused muscles. Closing her eyes, Veronica smiled. Making love with Kumi had been an incredible experience. She thought she was going to faint when he’d put his face between her thighs.

  “Would you mind if I come in and share your bath?”

  Her eyes opened quickly. Kumi stood several feet away resplendently naked and magnificently male. He had the body of an ancient god sculpted by artisans in centuries past. She flashed a shy smile, sinking lower in the water to conceal her breasts.

  “You’re going to smell like me.”

  Moving closer to the oversize Jacuzzi, he stared at her, noticing the evidence of his lovemaking on her throat and along the tops of her breasts. “I already smell like you. The scent of your perfume is on my skin and the taste of you is in my mouth.”

  Veronica couldn’t stop the wave of heat in her face as she glanced away demurely. “There’re toothbrushes in the top right drawer of the dressing table.”

  Kumi smiled at her display of modesty. He had to remember Veronica hadn’t shared her body with a man for twenty years despite the fact that she’d been married—a marriage that had been in name only.

  Turning, he made his way to the dressing table and opened a drawer filled with an ample supply of toothbrushes and disposable razors. He brushed his teeth before joining Veronica in the warm water.

  The black marble tub was large enough to accommodate four adults. The bathroom’s ebony-and-platinum color scheme was modern and sophisticated.

  Resting his arms along a ledge surrounding the Jacuzzi, he gave Veronica a penetrating stare. “Did I hurt you?”

  She shook her head, limp strands of hair moving with the slight motion. “No.”

  The recessed ceiling lights slanted over her face, highlighting the gold in her skin and eyes. Kumi floated over to her, stood up and watched her face for a change in expression. He wanted to make love to her again; now that he’d had her he didn’t think there would ever be a time when he wouldn’t want to make love to her; he was certain he would want her even when he was old and gray.

  Cradling her face between his palms, he eased her to her feet and pressed a kiss over each eye. “You are so incredibly beautiful, Ronnie. Beautiful and sexy.”

  Rising on tiptoe, she wound her smooth legs through his hair-roughened ones, making him her willing prisoner. Holding tightly to his neck, she kissed him tentatively as if sipping a cool drink.

  “You make me feel sexy,” she murmured, inhaling his mint-scented breath.

  “No, baby, I have nothing to do with that. You are sexy.”

  His right hand moved down and cradled a breast, his head following. She gasped loudly when he took the nipple into his mouth and suckled her until she felt the pull in her womb.

  She managed to free herself from his rapacious mouth, her body splayed over his. Both were breathing heavily. Waiting until her pulse slowed, she moved sinuously down his chest, her tongue sweeping over his breasts and suckling him as he had her. She moved even lower, her nose pressed against his thigh; then she registered his labored breathing as she took him into her mouth, his flaccid flesh hardening quickly.

  “No, Ronnie!” His voice bounced off the walls, but it was too late. Her magical tongue caressed the length, tip and the root of him like someone savoring an exquisite dessert.

  His hands curled into tight fists as he resisted the urge to explode in her mouth. The muscles bulged in his neck, shoulders and biceps. He embarrassed himself with the moans of ecstasy escaping his compressed lips. Electric shocks shook him until he convulsed uncontrollably.

  His right hand moved down, his fingers entwined in her hair, easing her head up as he spilled his seed into the swirling waters. His fingers loosened and she stood up, curled against his body, smiling.

  “Now we’re even,” she whispered, “because the taste of you is in my mouth.”

  Curving a hand under her chin, he lowered his head and kissed her tenderly, his tongue meeting hers. He tasted himself on her lips, loving her even more for her selflessness.

  Lifting her from the Jacuzzi, he carried her to the shower stall and together they frolicked under the flowing water like little children until it cooled and their fingers and toes wrinkled like raisins.

  Half an hour later, Veronica, wrapped in a silky red robe, sat on a stool in the kitchen, watching Kumi prepare baked chicken breasts with mustard, tarragon, carrots and leeks over a serving of boiled egg noodles with an accompanying salad made with field greens.

  They ate on the patio, listening to the latest Enya CD with the flowing waters of the indoor waterfall providing the perfect backdrop to the soothing selections.

  Both were content to listen to the music and enjoy the comfortable solitude. What had occurred between them earlier was still too new and shockingly sensual to absorb in only a few hours.

  They cleared the table, cleaned up the kitchen, then hand in hand mounted the staircase to the bedroom. Veronica straightened the twisted sheets, while Kumi stood on the veranda staring out at the night. She was in bed when he returned to the bedroom, closing the French doors behind him.

  She turned in to his embrace as if she’d been doing it for years instead of a few hours. He held her protectively until she fell asleep. Sleep did not come as easily for Kumi. Thoughts of when he would leave the States to return to Europe tortured him. For the past ten years he’d made Paris his home when he could’ve returned to Asheville, North Carolina. Before meeting Veronica Johnson he’d thought he would live out his life on European soil, but now he wasn’t so certain.

  Could he leave her? Would he return to France without her?

  The questions attacked him until fatigue overtook him as he succumbed to a sleep filled with mental images of their erotic lovemaking.

  Veronica came to know a different Kumi a week after they’d begun sleeping together. She’d heard the excitement in his voice when he spoke of owning and operating his own restaurant, his anxiety when he talked about returning to Paris and she also registered his pain when he revealed his strained relationship with his father.

  Reaching for her hand, he threaded his fingers through hers. “How can a man reject his own flesh and blood because he refuses to follow his wishes?” he questioned.

  Veronica stared up at the netting floating around the bed. Cool air filtered into the bedroom through the open French doors, and she snuggled closer to Kumi for warmth. “Because he’s a control freak,” she said softly, “and because he believes he knows what’s best for you.”

  “That may have been okay when I was a child.”

  “Some parents never see their children as adults.” Turning on her side, she smiled at him. “My mother still tries to tell me how to live my life. She doesn’t like the fact that I live here alone, and she took to her bed for a month when I told her that I was marrying a man old enough to be my father.”

  “How do you deal with her?”

  “I used to argue with her, but that got me nowhere, so now I just ‘yes’ her into silence. I’ve always been the renegad
e, while my younger sister has always conformed. She married a wonderful man and gave birth to two perfect children.”

  Releasing her hand, Kumi cradled his arm under his head. He gave Veronica a steady look. “What about you, Ronnie? Would you marry again?”

  Running a finger down the middle of his furred chest, she shrugged a shoulder. “I doubt it.”

  His gaze widened, searching her face and reaching into her thoughts. “Would you consider marrying me?”

  She wavered, trying to comprehend what she was hearing. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. And she didn’t know. She loved Kumi, enjoyed sleeping with him, but hadn’t given any thought to a permanent relationship because she knew he planned to return to France at the end of the summer.

  Moving closer, he kissed her forehead. “At least you didn’t say no.”

  “Are you proposing marriage?” she asked with a wide grin.

  He hesitated, measuring her for a moment. He’d done it again—opened his mouth to say something before he’d thought it through. He did want to marry Veronica, even if she smiled at him as if he’d told her a joke.

  “No,” he said glibly. The tense moment passed when he reached for her and flipped her over on her back. “I want you to come with me to see my sister’s place.”

  She lifted her eyebrows. “When?”

  “Today.”

  Veronica shook her head. She wasn’t ready to meet Kumi’s family. “I don’t think so.”

  “Please,” he whispered, lowering his body over hers. “Don’t make me beg, Ronnie.”

  She felt the crush of his muscular body bearing down on her slender frame. Bracing her hands against the solid wall of his chest, she closed her eyes. “You’re going to have to do more than beg, sweetheart.”

  Burying his face against the side of her neck, he nipped at a spot under her ear. “What do you want?” Curving her arms around his neck, she whispered what she wanted him to do for her. Kumi threw back his head and laughed loudly. “Of course. You’re so easy to please,” he crooned sensuously.