An Honorable Seduction

by Brenda Jackson

  She didn’t want anything more than that.

  One day, she would be ready to explore her options and consider a future with a man, but that time wasn’t now. She liked being single and responsible only for herself.

  She knew from Candy that a serious relationship was hard work. And on top of all that hard work, you could assume you had the right person in your life only to discover you didn’t. By then, you would have opened yourself up to hurt and pain in the worst possible way.

  The thought that a man had caused her best friend that kind of agony bothered Swan whenever she thought about it. Candy loved Key West as much as Swan did, and for a man to be the reason she had moved away was disheartening.

  Swan tried telling herself that not all men were like Candy’s ex, Don, or like William. On days when Swan wanted to think all men were dogs, all she had to do was remember her dad.

  Andrew Jamison was the yardstick she used to measure a good man. She’d watched how he had treated her mother, had seen the vibrant and sincere love between them. She had not only seen it, but she’d felt it as well. Both her parents had been demonstrative individuals and Swan had often interrupted them sharing a passionate kiss or embrace.

  She still felt it here, within the walls of her house and in the very floor she walked on. All the love that had surrounded her while growing up was in this house she now called home.

  She was glad her mother hadn’t sold it after her father died, when Leigh had made the decision to move back home to Jamaica. Instead, she had kept the house, knowing one day Swan would want to return. It was almost too spacious for one person but Swan knew she would never sell it or move away. This house had everything she needed.

  She could see the water from any room, and at night, whenever she slept with the window open, the scent of the ocean would calm her.

  Her favorite room in the house was her parents’ old bedroom, even though she had not moved into it. It had floor-to-ceiling windows and a balcony she liked sitting on while enjoying her coffee each morning. A couple of years ago, she’d had the balcony screened in to keep the birds from flying into her house, although she loved waking up to the sound of them chirping every morning.

  Although neither one of her parents would tell her the full story, Swan knew her father had come from a wealthy family. And she knew he had been disowned by them when he had fallen in love with her mother and refused to give her up. Before dying, Leigh had given Swan a beautiful leather-bound diary to read after her death. That’s what had helped keep Swan sane, reading the daily account of her mother’s life and love for her father and believing they were now back together.

  For weeks following her mother’s death, Swan had wanted to be alone to wallow in her pity and read about what she thought was the most beautiful love story that could exist between two people. Her mother had always been expressive with the written word and Swan enjoyed reading what she’d written.

  It had made Swan long for such a man, such a love. Maybe that’s why she had been so quick to believe in William and why, once she’d found out about his duplicity, she’d been so reluctant to get serious with a man since.

  From her mother’s diary, Swan discovered her mother’s appreciation for her husband’s agreement to make Key West their home. The people on the island embraced diversity and tolerated different lifestyles.

  Swan had read the account of when her father had been stationed at a naval base in Virginia and had sent for her mother to join him there. In the diary, her mother had written about the hateful stares they would receive whenever they went out together. The unaccepting and disapproving looks. The cruel words some people had wanted them to hear.

  Her father hadn’t tolerated any of it and hadn’t minded confronting anyone who didn’t accept his wife. But to avoid trouble, Leigh had preferred to live in Key West, where people’s issues with an interracial marriage were practically nonexistent.

  However, people’s attitudes never kept Leigh from leaving the island to join Andrew whenever he would send for her. Oftentimes, Leigh would take Swan along and they would both join Andrew in different places for weeks at a time.

  When she heard the sound of the doorbell, Swan drew in a deep breath. The time for memories was over. The only plans she had for this evening were for her and David to enjoy the meal she’d prepared and later enjoy each other’s company.

  She had no problem with them deciding what the latter entailed when that time came.

  * * *

  “Hello, David. Welcome to my home.”

  Flipper pushed from his mind the thought of how Swan would feel if she knew this wasn’t his first time here. How she would react if she knew he had invaded her space without her knowledge. If she ever found out the truth, would she understand it had been done with the best of intentions? Namely, to keep her from wasting away in a federal prison after being falsely accused of a crime?

  He forced those thoughts to the back of his mind as he smiled down at her. She looked absolutely stunning in a wraparound skirt and yellow blouse. “Hi. I know you said I didn’t have to bring anything, but I wanted to give you these,” he said, handing her both a bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers.

  He had decided on the wine early on, but the flowers had been a spur of the moment thing when he’d seen them at one of those sidewalk florist shops. Their beauty and freshness had immediately reminded him of Swan.

  “Thank you. The flowers are beautiful and this is my favorite wine,” she said, stepping aside to let him in.

  He chuckled. “I know. I remember from the other night.” There was no way he would also mention having seen several bottles of Moscato in the wine rack the time he had checked out her house.

  He glanced around, pretending to see her home for the first time. “Nice place.”

  “Thanks. I thought we would enjoy a glass of wine and some of my mouthwatering crab balls out on the patio before dinner.”

  “Mouthwatering crab balls?”

  “Yes, from my mom’s secret recipe. You won’t be disappointed,” she said, leading him through a set of French doors. The first thought that came to his mind when he stepped out on her patio, which overlooked the Atlantic Ocean, was that it was a beautiful and breathtaking view. This had to be the best spot on the island to view the ocean in all its splendor.

  He recalled how, as a boy, he would visit his cousins in California and dream of one day living near the beach. Over the years, being stationed in San Diego had been the next best thing. He owned an apartment close to base that was within walking distance of the beach.

  However, his view was nothing like this. All she had to do was walk out her back door and step onto the sand. It was right there at her door. If he lived here, he would go swimming every day.

  He glanced over at her. “The view from here is beautiful.”

  “I love this house and appreciate my mother for not selling it when she decided to move back to Jamaica after Dad died. She got a lot of offers for it, believe me. So have I. Mom said being here without Dad was too painful, but she knew I’d feel differently. For me, it was just the opposite. Being here and recalling all the memories of when the three of us shared this place makes me happy.”

  Hearing how the loss of her parents affected her made Flipper appreciate his own parents even more. Colin and Lenora Holloway had always been their sons’ staunch supporters. Their close and loving relationships had been the reason none of their sons had had any qualms about settling down and marrying. All the marriages had worked out, seemingly made in heaven, except for his brother Liam’s.

  When Bonnie had gotten pregnant, Liam had done the honorable thing by marrying her. Bonnie had always been a party girl and didn’t intend to let marriage or being a mommy slow her down. While Liam was somewhere protecting his country as a Navy SEAL, Bonnie was conveniently forgetting she had a husband.

  No one, not even Liam, had
been surprised when he returned from an assignment one year and she asked for a divorce. Liam had given it to her without blinking an eye. Since then, Bonnie had remarried, which had introduced another set of issues for Liam. He was constantly taking Bonnie to court to enforce visitation rights to see his daughter because the man Bonnie married didn’t like Liam coming around.

  Flipper had no qualms about marriage himself, but he had too much going on right now. Namely, resisting the temptation of Swan while he continued his investigation. That was his biggest challenge. The more he was around Swan the more he liked her and the more he wanted to prove her innocence. It was hard staying objective.

  “Here you are,” she said, handing him a cold bottle of beer. “I figured you would like this instead of the wine.”

  He smiled. Like he had picked up on her drinking preferences, she had done the same with him. “Thanks. I’ve never been a wine man.”

  She chuckled. “Neither was my dad. That’s how I knew when it was time for him to come home because Mom would have his favorite beer in the fridge.”

  He opened the bottle, took a sip and noticed her watching him. He licked his lips, liking the taste of the beer, which was the brand he’d chosen the other night at Summer Moon. When he took another sip and she continued to watch him, he lifted a brow. “Is anything wrong?”

  She smiled. “No, nothing is wrong. I just love to watch how you drink your beer.”

  He chuckled. That was a first. No woman had ever told him that before. “And how do I drink it?”

  “First there’s the way your mouth fits on the beer bottle. I find it very sensuous.”

  He tried ignoring the quiver that surged through his veins at the tone in her voice. “Do you?”

  “Yes. And then there’s the way you drink it like you’re enjoying every drop.”

  “I am.”

  “I can tell.” Then, as if she thought perhaps she’d said too much, she took a step back. “I’ll go get those crab balls for you to try.”

  When she turned to leave, he reached out and touched her arm. He couldn’t help it. The air all but crackled with the sexual energy between them. “Come here a minute before you go,” he said, setting his beer bottle aside. “Although I do enjoy drinking beer, I’ve discovered I enjoy feasting on your mouth even more.”

  And then he lowered his mouth to hers.

  * * *

  Perfect timing, Swan thought, because she needed this. She’d wanted it the moment he tilted his beer bottle to his mouth and she’d watched him do so. And now he was doing her. Showing her that he was enjoying her mouth more than he’d enjoyed the beer. Just like he’d said.

  There was a certain precision and meticulousness in how he mastered the art of kissing. First, as soon as his tongue would enter her mouth, he would unerringly find her tongue, capture it with his own and begin gently sucking in a way that made the muscles between her legs tighten. Then he would do other things she didn’t have a name for. Things that made desire flow through her like sweet wine, kindling heated pleasure and burning passion within her.

  He rocked his thighs against her and she felt him pressed against her. His arousal was massive. Instinctively, she moved her hips closer, wanting to feel him right there, at the juncture of her thighs.

  When he finally pulled his mouth away, she released a deep, satisfied breath. Her mouth was still throbbing and there was an intense ache in her limbs. Right now, their heavy breathing was the only sound audible, and the laser-blue eyes staring down at her sent a tremor to her core.

  She licked her lips when she took a step back. “Ready for a few crab balls?”

  “Yes,” he said, after licking his own lips. “For now.”

  Five

  He wanted her.

  Flipper knew he shouldn’t, but he did. All through the delicious dinner Swan had prepared and while engaging in great conversation with her, the thought of just how much he wanted her simmered to the back of his mind. Now with dinner coming to an end, desire was inching back to the forefront. Images of her naked tried to dominate his mind, the thoughts made him shift in his chair to relieve the ache at his crotch.

  “Ready for dessert, David? I made key lime pie.”

  Right now, another kind of dessert was still teasing his taste buds. “Yes, I would love a slice, and dinner was amazing by the way. You’re a good cook. My mother would absolutely love you.”

  Too late, he wondered why he’d said such a thing. From the look on her face, she was wondering the same thing. So he decided to clean up his mess by adding, “She admires other women who can cook.”

  Swan smiled. “You don’t have to do that, David.”

  “Do what?”

  “Try to retract the implications of what you said so I won’t get any ideas.”

  He had done that, but not for the reason she thought. He’d done so because it wasn’t right for either of them to think something was seriously developing between them. More than likely, she would hate his guts when she learned why he was really in Key West, when she discovered she was his assignment and nothing more. He couldn’t tell her the truth, but he could certainly set her straight on what the future held for them.

  “And what ideas do you think I wanted to retract?”

  “The ones where I would think we were starting something here, the ones that meant I would be someone you’d take home to meet your mother.”

  He sat down his glass of ice tea, which she had served with dinner. “Any reason why I wouldn’t want to take you home to meet my mother if we shared that kind of a relationship, Swan?” Although he didn’t think he needed to let her know—again—that they didn’t share that kind of relationship, he did so anyway.

  “Honestly, David, do I really have to answer that?”

  “Yes, I think you do.”

  She stared at him for a minute. “I’m well aware when it comes to interracial relationships that not all families are accepting.”

  He chuckled. “My family isn’t one of them, trust me. Interracial or international, we couldn’t care less. My brother Brad met his wife, Sela, while working in Seoul, South Korea, and my brother Michael met Gardenia in Spain. Like I told you, my parents would accept anyone who makes us happy, regardless of race, creed, religion, nationality or color.”

  She didn’t say anything to that. Then she broke eye contact with him to glance down into her glass of tea. Moments later, she raised her gaze back to him.

  “My father’s parents didn’t. They threatened him with what they would do if he married Mom and they kept their word. They disowned him. Still, my mother reached out to them when Dad died to let them know he’d passed. They came to his funeral but had no qualms about letting Mom know they still would not accept her. They would only tolerate me since I was biracial. They even tried forcing Mom to let me go back with them. That’s when my godfathers stepped in.”

  Flipper shook his head, feeling the pain she refused to acknowledge, the pain she’d obviously felt because of her grandparents’ actions. But he’d heard it in her voice nonetheless.

  “It’s sad that some people can be such bigots. At the risk of this sounding like a cliché, some of my closest friends are black,” he added, immediately thinking of Bane, Viper and Coop. Like her, Mac was of mixed heritage and had a white mother and black father.

  “I’m sure some of your closest friends are, David.”

  He wondered if she believed him. One day, she would see the truth in his words. Then it suddenly occurred to him—no, she would not. There would be no reason for her to ever meet the four guys who were just as close to him as his biological brothers.

  “I’ll be back in a minute with the pie,” she said. Then she stood and left the room.

  Flipper watched her leave, feeling that he hadn’t fully eradicated her doubts the way he’d wanted to do. That bothered him. He didn’t want her to t
hink he was one of those prejudiced asses who believed one race of people was better than another. What her grandparents had done to her father and mother, as well as to her, was unforgivable. Regardless of how she’d tried to come across as if their actions hadn’t hurt her, as if they still didn’t hurt her, he knew better.

  She needed a hug right now.

  He pushed back his chair and left the dining room to enter her kitchen. Instead of getting the pie like she’d said she would do, she was standing with her back to him, looking out the kitchen window at the ocean. And he could tell from the movement of her shoulders that she was crying.

  “Swan?”

  She quickly turned, swiping at her tears. “I’m sorry to take so long, I just had one of those miss-my-daddy-and-mommy moments.”

  He crossed the room to her, knowing that her tears were about more than that. He knew it and he intended for her to know he knew it. “Not wanting to get to know you—that was your grandparents’ loss, Swan.”

  She gazed into his eyes and nodded. “I know, David, but their actions hurt Dad, although he never said it did. I knew. Mom knew, too. I think that’s one of the reasons she loved him so much, because of all the sacrifices he’d made for her. That’s why she did anything she could to make him happy so he would never regret choosing her. But it wasn’t fair. He was a good man. Mom was a good woman. They deserved each other and should have been allowed to love freely and without restrictions, reservations or censure. It just wasn’t fair, David.”

  And then she buried her face in his chest and cried in earnest. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her, leaning down to whisper in her ear that things would be all right. That her parents had had a special love, one she should be proud of, one the naysayers had envied.

  Emotions Flipper hadn’t counted on flowed through him as he continued to stroke her hair and whisper soothing words next to her ear. Inwardly, he screamed at the injustice of trying to keep someone from loving the person they truly wanted to love. It was something he’d never understood and figured he never would. And never would he accept such a way of thinking from anyone.