The Ramseys Boxed Set

by Altonya Washington

  Yohan’s deep-set gaze didn’t waver from his wife. “Yeah, I’m frustrated about a lot of things,” he said, stepping closer.

  Melina managed to retreat only a few steps when he caught her-lifting her high against his broad chest. Shocked, yet instantly aroused by his touch, her lips parted as she watched him. Her reaction gave Yohan the perfect opportunity to kiss her. Deep and forceful, his tongue thrust and caressed, his arms flexed possessively around her minute waist. Melina could scarcely moan amidst the crushing embrace mixed with the savage lunging of his tongue as he carried her deeper into the darkened gym.

  Her hands were trapped between their bodies and she could only communicate her need through the desperation in her kiss. Unexpectedly, she felt them drop and she opened her eyes to find that Yohan had settled them to a deep, tattered burgundy armchair in a far corner of the room.

  “I thought you wanted to talk?” she asked, when he released her mouth. Her heaving breasts nudged his fingers as he undid the buttons along her blouse.

  His dark stare never rose from her chest. “Later,” he decided.

  The scene progressed at a fevered intensity Yohan practically ripped the blouse off her back, and then proceeded to kiss her out of her bra. His perfect mouth suckled her nipples as he unfastened the bra clasp with expert skill.

  Mel’s fingers trembled against the chords of his neck while she arched into his touch and cried out. She ground herself against the rigid power below his waist, until he pushed her to stand before him. She felt like a rag doll as he took her out of the stylish trousers and remaining undergarments. Quickly, she was nude-while he remained dressed and continued to pleasure her without shame. His nose outlined the curve of her belly and then tongued her navel while massaging her thighs.

  A helpless cry lilted in the air when his hands cupped her bottom and his middle finger entered her from behind. Her next cry was bold and wanton-hungry for whatever he chose to do to her. Yohan would only pleasure her with the scandalous fingering for a few moments longer before depriving her of the touch.

  “Han,” she sobbed, pounding her fist to his shoulder.

  He lifted her high above him and feasted on the now moisture-rich center of her body. At such an angle, Mel vaguely feared the chair would take a tumble, but she was with Yohan Ramsey and the chair was going nowhere. Mel ground into the savage thrusts of his oral kiss. She was so sensitive to everything he did that she could actually feel his tongue rotating deep inside her.

  Yohan’s low rumbling chuckle filled the gym when he heard the disappointed whimper she uttered. He ended the intimate stroking before she could orgasm.

  She should have been limp with unsatisfied need, but her only desire was to have him out of his clothes. Straddling his lap, she kissed herself from his tongue in the midst of removing his shirt. Her fingers splayed across the heavy slabs of muscle in his chest and back. Grazing her nails across his chiseled abs, her fingers curved into the waistband of his pants and she tugged-forcing him deeper into the kiss they shared. Feeling him rise more insistently against her thigh, Mel broke the kiss and focused on undoing his trousers. Once accomplished, she groped for the part of his anatomy she yearned for most of all. She freed him from his boxers and kissed him passionately when he assumed control and lowered her onto his steel length.

  Mel let her forehead rest against his, her eyes closed tight in concentration. She felt as though she were experiencing the hypnotic affects of a drug she had no intention of ever giving up. It was true. She couldn’t survive losing or leaving him again.

  Yohan’s fingers left impressions in the flawless dark skin of her hips and back. He held her desperately, as though fearing she’d vanish if he eased his grip. He left her head rest on the back of the armchair and thrust upwards with reckless abandon. Mel increased her speed as she rode him in circular sweeps of her hips, before bouncing up and down along his powerful stiffness. The air mingled with tortured sounds of male desire and feminine cries of delight. When they were spent, they rested on the chair. Their bodies were still connected.

  ***

  Taurus Ramsey was in no mood to charm any of the dozens of female officers and executive assistants who filled the halls of King County correctional facility. With his suave and subtly mesmerizing persona, heavenly features and quietly rough voice, the man had an arsenal of seductive weapons that always provided favorable results. Alas, he felt far from any sort of Casanova that day. For weeks, he’d avoided calls from his father’s attorney requesting that he pay a visit. Taurus decided to give in that day simply to have it over and done with.

  “Taurus! Good to see you!” David McNeil greeted, grinning broadly while shaking hands with his client’s only son. “Thanks for coming, man. It’ll mean a lot to Houston.”

  Taurus’s expression was unreadable. “I’m not here to make him feel better,” he explained coolly, “I’m here so you’ll stop filling my damn answering machine with calls begging me to come visit this bastard.”

  David cleared his throat and bristled noticeably but managed to maintain an easy smile. “I’m sorry you feel that way, but Houston is still your father.”

  Taurus’s light eyes twinkled mischievously. “Remarks like that only lessen my desire to cooperate.”

  David nodded, deciding to be thankful for the young man’s presence and let the rest be. He led the way into the facility and assisted Taurus with checking in with the guards. Then Taurus headed back alone to see his father.

  His attempts at remaining unfazed by the sight of the man dissipated when Houston was right before his eyes. The man looked like only a shell of himself-gaunt, tired and on edge. His calm, usually unfettered demeanor held a blatantly paranoid aura. His eyes were wide as though he were suspiciously surveying his surroundings and every living thing that entered his space.

  Taurus couldn’t prevent his surprise from showing. After all, his father was always impeccably groomed be he in an office meeting or going to the grocery store. Soft laugher escaped his throat at the thought. As if Houston Ramsey had ever visited a grocery store in his life. Taurus’s soft chuckling, caught Houston’s ear and he looked up. Happiness replaced the paranoia in his eyes when he saw his only son.

  “Taurus,” he whispered in an eager tone, rising just slightly from the gray folding chair. He quickly resumed his seat and nodded humbly. “Thank you so much for coming, son.”

  “Don’t get excited. I’m only here to get your lawyer to stop calling.”

  Houston nodded, the hope in his eyes now mingling with sadness. “I understand, I understand…so, how are your mother and sister?” he asked, his tone pleasant.

  “My mother and sister?” Taurus hissed, enraged that Houston could even speak of them especially to ask such a question as though he had no idea. “Dena is hold up in her house,” he said of his sister, “everyone from her family and friends to her employees and the mailman is upset about how withdrawn she’s become. As for my mother,” he sneered, bracing his hands on the chrome table and fixing his father with a hateful glare, “she could be who knows where. I haven’t heard from her in weeks. My guess is she’s trying to get as far away from this mess as possible. As for me, I’m on my way out as well. I’m gonna check in on Dena down in Carolina before I leave.”

  Houston blinked. Obvious concern tightened his haggard face. “I’m losing my family,” he noted absently.

  “Losing us?” Taurus snapped his handsome features contorted into something sinister. “You never had us. You paraded us-trying to make yourself look far better than you were by demanding no less than perfection from the rest of us.”

  “I’m sorry, son,” Houston said, looking as if he knew the apology were pathetic.

  Taurus rose to his full height. “Save it. You know, I think about all the times you forced the best out of me-saying you weren’t gonna be shamed by your son’s inadequacies when it was me who should’ve been saying that to you.” Taurus rolled his eyes, folding his arms across the front of his broad, heav
ing chest. “I should have been talkin’ about your inadequacies to keep it in your pants-at least around your little girl’s friends.” He braced his hands on the table again, the chords in his forearms bulged threateningly below the rolled sleeves of his maroon shirt. “If you go near Dena or call me again, I’ll kill you.”

  Houston blinked as though summoning courage to face his enraged child. “I know I don’t have a right to expect…anything from you, but Taurus I need my family. If ever there was a time I need-“

  “What you need is to pay for what you’ve done. Stop hiding behind your lawyers and the loopholes you’re praying they can find to dig you out of this crap. As for having us in your corner,” Taurus’s expression darkened with an almost frightening intensity, “well, I suppose in a place like this a man needs to have a dream, so you hold on to than one. Guard!” he called and soon left the room without looking back.

  Shortly following Taurus’s departure, David arrived to find his client crying and faced down on the chrome table.

  “I’m sorry Houston,” David was saying, pushing a handkerchief across the table. “I shouldn’t have pushed for this. I knew it wouldn’t go well.”

  “No David, no,” Houston sighed, dabbling the kerchief at his face reddened by emotion. “I wanted to see him in spite of his anger.”

  “But that’s the last sort of frustration you need now, further condemnation from your son.”

  Houston waved his hand. “But he’s right. He’s right, Dave. I have to pay.”

  David cleared his throat. “Houston think about what you’re saying.”

  “Call the detectives.”

  “Houston-“

  “David. Call them,” he urged, his face holding a calm that had been lost for weeks. “It’s time I told everyone what really happened to Sera Black.”

  ***

  Melina believed she could have relaxed amidst the bubbling water forever. Yohan brought them into the Jacuzzi after the glorious love session in his gym. Now, they reclined in the ten person tub-Yohan was settled against the black porcelain surface with Melina resting on the unyielding muscular expanse of his chest. She sighed long and deep, overwhelmed by pleasure and contentment as Yohan cupped and massaged her breasts. His thumbs grazed her nipples that firmed instantly within the roaring water.

  “Are you ready to tell me the rest?” he asked, still weighing her breasts in his palms.

  Reluctantly, Mel moved out of the embrace. She turned to face him across the water from the other side of the tub.

  Yohan’s heavy brows rose. “That bad?” he predicted.

  Melina pressed her lips together. “It’s very bad,” she confirmed.

  Folding his arms across his water-slicked chest, Yohan shook his head. “Why are you so afraid of me? To talk to me?” he asked.

  Mel smoothed her soaked hair across her shoulder. “I’m not afraid of you. It’s what you might do that I’m afraid of.” Her slanting black stare narrowed towards the door of the Jacuzzi room. “Those massacred punching bags in your gym…I’m afraid you’d do the same to Marc.”

  “So this is still about my father?” he asked, thinking-almost hoping it’d been about her…boss.

  “Yes,” Mel whispered, drawing her knees to her chin. “I’m so scared you’ll do something, something that’d rid us all of Marc yes, but also take you away in the process.” Her words silenced as tears pooled her eyes and mingled with the moisture already present on her face from the steam of the water in the tub.

  Yohan offered his hand, pulling her close when she accepted. Mel clung to him-almost desperately. Her face rested near the crook of his neck. Then, she began to speak.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “I finished my last two years of high school in China,” Mel began, her chin still resting on Yohan’s shoulder while she stared blankly across the room. “We’d heard about Zara and I begged my parents to come back so I could be with Johari.” She smiled as the memories returned. “The first few weeks were so great. All Jo could talk about was this great party Quay threw at the end of every year since they’d been in high school. I think much of her excitement had to do with Moses. I think he was supposed to be going to the party. Anyway, this year would be special because it’d be the last party and was going to be in a hotel downtown. Apparently, Quay had a reputation for giving great hotel parties.”

  Yohan chuckled. “Yeah great. Half of ‘em were so wild, I think the trouble he got into because of them outweighed all the fun he had.”

  Melina smirked. “Well, I couldn’t wait and the party was definitely lots of fun. I had the best time,” she sighed, her dark eyes twinkling with remembrance when she looked into her husband’s gorgeous face. “I think I would’ve had an even better time if I’d met you that night,” she whispered.

  Yohan pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’d gone off on a fishing trip with the friends I’d be attending Hampton with in the fall,” he recalled.

  Melina smiled. “I’m so glad you decided to attend Hampton that fall,” she said, referring to the day they met on the college campus. “Best day of my life when we met and so were all the days that followed,” she admitted in a dreamy tone.

  Yohan’s entrancing stare narrowed as he leaned in to brush his mouth across hers. Melina heard herself moan above the bubbling water and returned his kiss eagerly when it deepened. Too soon, he was pulling away and Mel knew it was time to continue her story.

  “When the party started to wind down, Jo and I went to get ice cream at this shop a few blocks away. We were going to talk a little more, maybe drive around for a while. Then I remembered I’d left my jacket and we went back to the hotel. I was about to knock, but the door was cracked so I just went on in and headed to the bedroom where all the things had been placed.” Her expression softened more. “I probably would’ve gotten it and gotten right out of there, but I saw someone in the bed. Quay.” She said, humor filling her slanting stare. “Stark naked in the middle of the bed and holding a bottle-a quarter filled bottle of gin. Anyway, I ran over and threw a sheet over him. I was on my way out when I heard Sera’s voice.” Melina winced, feeling Yohan’s arms flex about her waist. “She was walking into the room or letting someone in, I don’t know which. I was sure she knew who it was because she was laughing. I waited for them to move on before I came out.” Her expression tightened and she bowed her head as if trying to ward off sickness.

  “I was on my way out the door when I heard her scream and-and there was a thud-like something had hit the floor. I remember I wanted to run, but I had to see and-oh Han,” she breathed, her voice shaking too badly to continue.

  “Shh,” Yohan soothed, pulling her into a tight squeeze, “tell me,” he urged, “tell me all of it Mel. I’ll be damned if I let you continue to keep carrying this on your own.”

  Mel nodded, wanting to share the rest and dried her tears with the backs of her hands. “Sera and Houston were on the floor-he was raping her.”

  Yohan eased his hands up and down her arms which were riddled with gooseflesh in spite of the heat. “Love, you know they were having an affair,” he interjected softly.

  Melina shook her head. “She was trying to scream and he was holding his hand over her mouth. He was raping her.” She swore, pinning Yohan with a defiant gaze.

  “I believe you,” he whispered against her temple and relishing the silence before asking the one question he didn’t want an answer to. “Meli…what does this have to do with my father?”

  “Sera opened the door to two men that night. The other was Marc. He stood there watching the entire thing.”

  Yohan slumped against the tub. “Did he?” he couldn’t finish.

  Mel closed her eyes. “I don’t know if he touched her. I don’t think so. I got the hell out of there. By the time I was in Jo’s car and we were speeding out of the parking lot, Sera was on the ground.” Her voice broke on the last word and her tears would not be silenced then.

  “I hated myself for running!” she raged amidst her te
ars. “I hated myself. I still do! I should’ve done something! I should’ve-“

  “Stop, stop,” Yohan ordered, giving her a tiny shake. “You didn’t do a damn thing wrong. Do you hear me? Mel?”

  “I should’ve told,” she chanted, “I should’ve said something. But I never did. I never did. I was too much of a coward, too afraid.”

  “Mel?” Yohan called, propping his thumbs below her chin to make her look up at him. “Did they see you?” he asked,

  Melina blinked. “When I turned to leave the room, my elbow hit the wall and they looked up. Marc looked right at me.” She shuddered and moved closer to Yohan. “I had no idea who they were. I’d never met Houston and-well, the first time I met Marc was when you were introducing me to him as your wife.”

  Yohan whispered a curse. It all made sense now-perfect sense. Melina and Marc’s intense dislike and unease around each other. God, she’d been living in fear practically since the day they married. They may never have married had he taken her to meet his family during the years they were dating. Thank God he’d followed his mind and kept her away from them-from Marcus.

  “When I found out who they were,” she was saying, “I knew no one would ever believe two members of the Ramsey family would be involved in something so vicious.”

  “And this is what you were coming to tell me that night.” Yohan figured.

  Mel managed a wavering smile. “Brenda said you were in a meeting. I didn’t care. I didn’t want to talk at your office anyway. So I left the note…Marc got to it before you-“

  “Son of a bitch,” Yohan muttered, frowning as he remembered.

  Melina cleared her throat. “I got a hotel room and rehearsed how I was going to tell you all this while I waited for you to get there,” she shrugged. “Imagine my surprise when I opened the door to Marc instead of you.”

  Again, Yohan’s arms tightened around his wife’s slim frame. “Did he hurt you?”