healing-hearts

by Yvette Hines

  “Jason...” her voice drifted off as she was embraced in Jason’s arms. She buried her face in his neck and inhaled his scent. Jason always smelled like a blend of his spicy cologne and honey that seemed to come naturally from his skin.

  With Blake having touched her, Yasmine felt filthy and soiled by the monster’s smell.

  “What are you thinking about?” Jason questioned, as if sensing that something was troubling her.

  “How I want to wash Blake completely out of my life, Jason.”

  Understanding what she meant, Jason picked her up and carried her up the stairs, not letting her down until he had reached the bathroom. He turned on the water, set the temperature, then undressed her and placed her in the shower. Yasmine wasted no time to use the water to wash her face and rinse out her mouth from her violator’s kisses.

  Moments later he joined her, having removed all of his clothing.

  Jason started by tilting her head back and underneath the jet’s stream and began to wash her hair gently. Yasmine’s eyes half closed at the hypnotic feel of his fingers massaging her scalp, and enjoyed the warm flow of water streaming down her back.

  After he was finished, Yasmine watched him pick up her Spring Bouquet liquid soap bottle, but instead of applying it to her puff, as she normally would have done, he filled the palm of his hand with a generous amount and then began to wash her body.

  Yasmine relaxed into Jason’s compassionate cleansing ministrations as she felt his hands begin at her neck. Tears began to join the water sliding down her face, as he lovingly touched each of the marks on her throat, then his hands moved down her arms, until his fingers slipped between hers; taking care to wash them.

  Yasmine began to tremble as she felt his slick hands move back up and without pause touch her breasts. Not missing a beat, he cleansed them then moved to her stomach, hips and each leg down to her feet. Turning her around with care, he glided his hands across her backside giving it the same type of treatment he had performed on the front of her body. Yasmine could feel the heat of his body as his hand shifted back around to the front of hers and applied the same purifying ministration to her most intimate part.

  Every nerve ending in Yasmine’s body was on edge as Jason rinsed the suds from her skin, turned off the water then exited the shower. He returned with a towel around his waist, wrapped her body with another towel, and carried her to the bedroom.

  He continued the chivalrous attention as he dried her off then laid her down in the center of the bed and joined her. Jason began to kiss her, using his tongue to touch every recess of her mouth. His lips moved down to her neck and began to apply soft kisses to the column of her neck, as if each touch of his mouth could take away the evidence of her attack.

  Jason’s hands were not idle as they kneaded her breasts and coasted along her petite waist and full hips, keeping Yasmine’s body humming for release.

  Moving down her body, he dipped his tongue in her navel, teasing her before he progressed further. Reaching her thighs he placed kisses down the tops, down to her knees. He returned with his tongue slowly dragging up the center of each thigh tracing small circles. Her body pulsed with expectation.

  Spreading her legs wider, he began tasting her, the heat of his mouth caressing her sensitive wet skin. Slipping between her swollen folds, he savored her essence, causing her to lift her hips toward him begging for more as she began to tumble toward completion.

  Her whimpers and cries of ecstasy urged him in his quest to satisfy her. Pulling her stiff clit into his mouth, he flicked, nipped and swirled around it until her legs bounced on the bed, her hips jerked erratically and her body tightened, moments before her spasm into rapture.

  Jason’s tongue soothed her, gliding over her slick skin in a soothing caress. When her quakes faded, he began to adore her breasts, suckling them to stiff peaks as his hand built her arousal again, his finger stroking within her damp core.

  She refused to climax again, without him. Reaching down and taking a firm hold of his solid manhood she massaged the length from tip to base. Yasmine could feel his groan of satisfaction vibrate around the breast being pulled into his mouth.

  “Jason, I need you inside of me,” she entreated, breathless.

  No further words were needed as Jason positioned himself between her parted thighs and entered her body in one slow movement until he was buried deep inside of her.

  Yasmine wanted to weep as Jason made love to her silently and gently in an attempt to remove the residue of every violent act that had been done to her that night.

  At the end, both of their climaxes seemed to respect the soothing atmosphere, as their bodies quaked together quietly.

  Jason rolled to his side, pulled the blanket over their bodies, and wrapped her in his arms and they slept.

  ~ML~

  The clock on the nightstand read six am. Jason looked down at Yasmine who was curled up facing him. She looked innocent and vulnerable, with the bruises on her neck. With the thought of how close he had come to losing her, his blood began to heat up with rage again toward the man who had done it.

  When he lifted the covers to leave the bed, he caught a glimpse of Yasmine’s naked form. Jason’s blood began to boil in another way. He had a strong urge to lean down and kiss; to fondle her body until she woke up as stimulated as he already was with just the thought of her.

  Jason forced his own nude, fully aroused body out of the bed and pulled on his clothes. He knew that if he made love to Yasmine right then he would be inside of her all day. Not that it was a bad thing, but she needed space to realize what they had together and he needed time to take account of his own life and discover if this was truly what he wanted.

  The next time he came back home it was going to be for good. He was playing this thing for keeps and if Yasmine wanted the same thing there would have to be a no holds barred agreement.

  All or nothing.

  ~ML~

  Yasmine awoke and discovered she was alone. She showered, dressed and arrived at work to find a bouquet of chrysanthemums on her desk with a card that read: “If you need me I’m here for you.”

  Yasmine loved chrysanthemums, because they were strong, enduring flowers. While other flower’s wilted under pressure, they continued to hold themselves high and proud, unfazed by touch or change.

  “I signed for them. I assume they’re from Jason. Do I get an explanation of what’s going on?” Leigh walked into the office.

  Yasmine put her purse in the drawer and sat down behind her desk. “You may want to sit for this.” Yasmine told her friend.

  “That good, huh?” Leigh chuckled.

  The smile dropped off her face as Yasmine unbutton the top to buttons of her shirt and revealed the now dark marks on her neck, accompanying the view with one word, “Blake.”

  “Oh my God, Yassi. How did he do this? What happened? Where did you see him?”

  Yasmine lifted her hand up in the air stop the flow of questions from her friend. “I’ll tell you everything.”

  Yasmine started at the beginning and told her friend everything about yesterday’s horrible events.

  “So, he knew that you and Jason didn’t live together anymore?”

  “He knew practically everything. I didn’t know what to say. All those times he had been writing and calling me, I just figured he had tracked me down. Not that he had actually been following me.”

  “So, you think that he waited until he knew Jason wasn’t going to be around to make his move?” Leigh asked.

  “That’s exactly what I think.”

  “Boy, I bet he was surprised when Jason began to pulverize him.”

  “Frankly, I don’t care as long as he’s locked behind bars.” Yasmine opened up a fresh water bottle for the morning.

  “So, if Charmagne couldn’t reach Jason, what was he doing there?”

  A warm glow washed over her body. “When I asked him that on the way to the police station, he said it was Wednesday and his scheduled night to spend
with the kids. Can you believe he even apologized for being late?”

  “It’s just a blessing that he showed up when he did.”

  “That’s what I told him,” Yasmine confirmed.

  “That’s some man you got there, Yasmine.” Then Leigh asked, “What about the children?”

  “They’re fine. They didn’t even realize anything was going on. Charmagne had the good sense to play some music in a room with them. Then, after the dust had settled, she took them to her house for the night.”

  “That must have been frightening, staying in that house all by yourself.” Leigh commented, shaking her head incredulously.

  Yasmine looked down at her hands in her lap guiltily.

  “Yasmine Sousa Richardson, you got some last night.”

  Yasmine looked up at her friend with light in her eyes and a broad smile on her face. “What makes you think that?”

  “Well, the Cheshire cat look, for one.” She pointed at her friend face.

  “Why didn’t you tell me he moved back in?” Leigh asked.

  Sobering, Yasmine finished by saying, “Because he hasn’t.”

  “Come again? Didn’t he stay the night last night?”

  “Yeah, he left sometime this morning and so we never got a chance to talk about it.”

  “But, you’re going to call him today and tell him to come home, right?” Leigh almost demanded.

  “No, Leigh, I’m not. If he wants to come home he can call me.” Yasmine replied bluntly.

  “So, let me get this straight. You kick him out, but he is the one who has to ask to come back.”

  Yasmine couldn’t miss the lift of her friend’s eyebrow.

  “Let’s just leave it alone, Leigh. I’m just not ready now to ask him to come back. If anything, seeing Blake just made it harder to open myself up again.”

  Leigh nodded her understanding. “I guess last night you made love to him because it was what you needed at the time?”

  Yasmine leaned back in her seat and slid down until her head rested on the back of the chair. “Yeah, and I don’t regret it at all.”

  “There’s no need for you to. It’s not like he was some stranger you picked up at a club. Jason’s your husband and he’s supposed to be there for you.”

  “In a way I’m glad he wasn’t there when I woke up. I know I’m not ready to deal with it right now. I think in a way he knew that.”

  “So, what are you going to do?” Leigh asked.

  “Nothing. I’m going to raise the kids and deal with seeing him every Wednesday and Saturday.”

  “Can you handle that?”

  “Tenho a,” she began in Portuguese. “There’s no other choice for me at this moment.”

  ~ML~

  On Saturday, they had a family picnic at Mount Trashmore Park, they took bread out and the kids fed the ducks and played at the playground located on the other side of the huge mound of dirt. While they sat on a blanket underneath a tree where they had a good view of the twins, Yasmine told Jason about her visit with the lawyer on Friday.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about it?” Jason asked, looking over at her and playing with a blade of grass between his fingers.

  “I know you’re working on some major project and I didn’t want to disturb you if it was something I could handle on my own. Especially since it’s possible I’ll be doing it all by myself soon.”

  “I don’t want to be left out of their lives, Yasmine. No matter what happens between us.”

  Yasmine noticed the hurt sound in his voice as he spoke. She began to pluck grass out of the soil and threw it to the side for no reason at all except that she felt guilty about not discussing things with Jason. He was right, he did have a right to know, even if he was only going to be around until the case was over and he found out whether he got the position or not.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No sweat.” He blew out the air forcefully from his mouth. “With all of the excitement, I forgot to tell you that Mr. Coleman met with us.”

  “You mean you and Raquel?” Yasmine could stop the instant tension that came upon her with the mention of the other woman’s name.

  “Yeah, we’re the two up for it.” His voice held a slight defensive edge to it.

  “What did he say?”

  “There’s a company dinner party in a little over a month and he’s going to announce it then.”

  “Wow, so you have a date now?”

  “Yep, and I don’t know if I’m more nervous now or when he told me to get a life.” He winked in her direction.

  She smiled in return and confirmed, “Well you got one.”

  “As long as it appears that way from the outside—but that doesn’t guarantee me the job.”

  “You’re a hard worker, so let’s pray it’s enough to take you over the top.”

  “I’ll take all the prayer’s I can get.” He leaned back on his elbows, bending one leg at the knee.

  “So, can I tell Pastor Hiles to expect you at church tomorrow?” Yasmine asked jokingly.

  “It wouldn’t hurt, I guess.” He looked away from the park. “Do you mind if I ride with you and the kids?”

  “Not at all. If you get there early enough, you can have breakfast with us.”

  “Make it those wheat blueberry tofu ones and you got yourself a deal.”

  Yasmine laughed. One day she was going to cook him something with tofu, just for being such a smart-aleck about it.

  ~ML~

  Yasmine had taken the day off. She and Leigh had been working so hard lately they had each taken a day this week to get a little rest. Yasmine had still taken the children to daycare so they could expend some energy, and she had been around the house most of the day.

  She was trying her hand at creating a garden. Even though she didn’t usually do very well with plants, except allow them to grow wild. If it weren’t for the fact Jason cut the grass for her on Saturdays, it would grow taller than she was—by the time she got around to doing it she would need a machete and combat boots. Leigh had joked with her about losing small dogs from the neighborhood in it.

  It didn’t help that this time last year; the lady that lived three houses down had lost her dog Pebbles, who was a Silky Terrier. Leigh swears the dog had been lost in the jungle of her backyard and she had sucked the little canine up in the lawnmower.

  Yasmine went inside to grab herself a drink of water and heard the phone ringing. By the time she got to it the message light was flashing. Yasmine debated whether to listen to it later or now. Deciding that it maybe someone calling for the children, she pushed the play button.

  The machine announced there were two messages. The first one that came in was Jason. He had done the thing that she loved most, dropped his voice to a low pitch and spoke slowly and softly, emphasizing every word.

  “Hello, Yasmine, I was just calling to tell you to enjoy your day off. Hopefully you’re taking some much-needed time for yourself. You were on my mind so I called.”

  His message ended and Yasmine realized her cheeks were pulled back in a giddy schoolgirl smile. She couldn’t resist hitting the repeat button twice, before she moved on to the next one.

  A woman’s voice was on the next message.

  “Hello, I’m calling for Ms. Allison Henry, the family lawyer, and trying to reach Mr. and Mrs. Richardson. Ms. Henry would like you all to call her as soon as possible.”

  Then the message ended.

  Yasmine quickly picked up the phone and called the lawyer.

  “Hello, Mrs. Richardson, I’m glad you could return my call so promptly,” Mrs. Henry voice came through the line.

  “I was just doing some work around the house and missed your original call.” Her hand immediately shot to her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart.

  “That’s fine.” Not wasting time with small talk Ms. Henry began, “What are you and your husband doing Friday at ten?” Allison asked.

  “I don’t have anything, but I’d need to check with Jason
’s schedule. What’s going on?”

  “The judge is ready to make her ruling and would like to meet with you and your husband in her chambers. She also would like to speak with the children.”

  Yasmine’s heart leaped. “So soon? I was expecting it to be months before she got around to it. Ms. Henry, you work fast.” She was impressed by the short amount of time in which the lawyer had accomplished the task.

  “I’d love to take credit for it, but it’s not me. It just so happens that the judge is going away for a while on vacation. She wanted to clear her desk of a few cases before she left. Therefore, someone was watching over you and because your file was put on her desk and not the other family court judge. Otherwise, we would still be waiting.”

  “Thank you, God,” Yasmine offered up a small prayer. To Ms. Henry she said, “We’ll be there. Do you need us to come by your office first?”

  “That won’t be necessary. I’ll already be at the courthouse for another matter and will meet you outside of Judge Roth’s chambers.”

  “Then we will see you Friday morning.” Yasmine confirmed.

  Yasmine considered picking up the phone and calling Jason. Instead, she laid her gardening gloves down, then grabbed her purse and keys and left the house. News like this shouldn’t be shared over the phone; it needed to be delivered in person.

  ~ML~

  “Stop biting your nails,” Yasmine told him when she arrived at his office.

  It was lunchtime, Jeannie wasn’t at her desk, and Jason was sitting behind his computer staring at the screen using his nails for lunch while in deep concentration.

  Jason looked up shocked, but quickly smiled as he got up and came around his desk.

  “Yasmine, this is a pleasant surprise. I just called you not to long ago.”

  “I got the message, thanks.” She felt the same goofy smile on her face from earlier.

  “So what brings you by?”

  “How about lunch?” Yasmine blurted out.

  Yasmine could see the shock that registered on his face.

  “Lunch with a beautiful lady?” he pretended to consider the offer, his finger tapping his dimpled chin. “I think I can squeeze that into my schedule.”

  “Good, because it’s my treat,” her lips pulled back in a grin. She didn’t know why she had decided to ask him out to lunch, her original plan had been to come tell him about the meeting with the judge, then go back home. But, when she had come in and seen him working too hard through lunch, she felt the urge to take care of him.