“You win,” Giada panted out as she collapsed against him a few seconds later.
“We both win,” Kentucky replied still holding her close to him as their breathing patterns regulated.
“Kenny?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Where are the Delfinos? Seems like they should have been back by now.”
Suddenly they heard a loud scream of ecstasy coming from an open window of an upstairs bedroom.
“I think that answers your question,” Kentucky said as they both turned toward the sound with a grin.
Looks like I’m not the only screamer in the bunch, Giada noted silently, liking Beverlyn even more now that they had that particular trait in common.
Chapter Nineteen
Kentucky discovered a few new things about Giada on their trip to Village Square, Georgia. First of all, she had the innate ability to assimilate into any environment. Giada seemed just as comfortable among the teachers who had arrived over that weekend as she did among the lawyers and celebrities she usually associated with.
Secondly, Giada had a real eye for detail. During her tour of the school, she noticed that the nurse’s office didn’t have what she called “rites of passage” packets for newly menstruating girls. This packet would include all the items they would need for this step into womanhood, including a pocket calendar to keep up with their monthly cycles.
Kentucky took that to heart and asked Giada if she would like to help bring that vision to pass. That request had been like telling Road Runner to run. Giada did what came naturally to her—shopped.
Hitting all the local superstores, she gathered all the necessary items and the decorative boxes they would go in. Soon there were Debutante Boxes stacked high in the storage room of the nurse’s office. All had been personally assembled by Giada. The most surprising thing of all was the fact that she stayed within budget, revealing that she could exercise restraint concerning money when she had to.
“Can you spend the night at my house?” Kentucky asked on the way from the airport now that they were back in Miami. He wasn’t ready for her to leave his side just yet.
“Sure.” Giada looked just as excited as she’d been the day he gave her that large engagement ring. “But I need to stop by your mother’s first to get a change of clothes.”
“Actually, you don’t.” Kentucky grinned slyly. “I anticipated you saying yes, so I called Mama before we left and asked her to drop off a change of clothes for you. I told her to bring over that rust-colored pantsuit I like to see you in and the matching stilettos.”
Giada laughed. “I don’t know why you just won’t let me move in with you. It would be easier since I’m always at your house anyway.”
Kentucky gave her a look that said, You know why.
Giada’s laughter instantly quelled in her throat at that look. “All right, Kenny.” She turned to face forward in her disappointment. She folded her arms across her chest, revealing her rising anger.
Kentucky remained silent, giving her time to deal with her disappointment. She would never know how much he wanted to not only move her in right now, but also marry her. But they had to wait for all that.
In the meantime, I’m gonna see what I can do to make the wait pleasurable for the both of us. Kentucky decided to start the festivities tonight.
* * * *
Giada remained in a sullen mood all during dinner and even after she prepared for bed. Though she only wore a chemise, it might as well been a suit of armor. The stiff way she lounged in bed, blankly watching the TV with her arms and legs crossed, sent a definite message—nothing sensual was happening tonight.
“It’s not gonna work, Giada,” Kentucky said, coming into the room after finishing his solitary shower. He had on a long, thick bathrobe.
“What’s not going to work?” She frowned over at him.
Kentucky chuckled. “That sulking and pouting is not gonna get you anywhere with me.”
“I’m starting to think nothing will. You’re the most stubborn man I ever met,” Giada replied, incensed by his cavalier attitude.
“You got the man part right, baby. And as a man, I’m not gonna indulge in childish behavior.”
“Oh, so I’m a child now, huh?” Giada sat upright. “I wasn’t a child this morning when you were screwing my brains out in that Georgia hotel room.”
Kentucky’s nostrils flared with ire. “First of all, I didn’t hear you complaining in that hotel room. As I recall, you were begging me for more.”
Giada’s cheeks grew hot, but she remained silent at that blunt truth. She had enjoyed that tryst just as much as he had.
“Secondly, I didn’t say you were a child, Giada, even though you are definitely acting like one now,” Kentucky continued. “Matter of fact, sometimes our seven-year age difference is very obvious. This is one of those times.”
“Well, let me take my childish behind home then.” Giada sprang from the bed and headed toward the closet for her clothes.
* * * *
Kentucky took a deep breath and exhaled as his angry woman made her way across the room. This was not the way he planned for this night to go at all. He had to get control of himself. Then he had to take control of this situation before it got too far out of hand.
“Fine, Giada, go home. I’ll even let you take the Jeep to drive yourself since I’m in for the night. But if you do leave, you are gonna miss out on the greatest show of your life.” He casually walked over to the stereo system, not appearing angry at all now.
Giada paused and snapped her head around. “What show?”
Kentucky smiled, pleased that her curiosity was thoroughly piqued. “This show,” he replied, snatching his robe open to reveal a red loincloth that only a male stripper would wear. His body was oiled to perfection and glistening all over.
Giada gasped even as her eyes widened. “I . . .” She couldn’t seem to get two words out. The only thing she could do was moan and shudder with need.
“After the way you helped the school this weekend, I wanted to reward you in a special way. Since we’re on a budget and since I can’t afford to buy you another big-ticket item right now, I thought you might enjoy having something priceless.”
“Price . . . less?”
“Yeah, something that no other woman has had since college.” Kentucky ran his hands down the front of his shiny body. “A private show from your very own exotic dancer,” he added, gyrating his hips in a sensual come-hither move.
Giada moaned louder. She didn’t look ready to go anywhere now.
Kentucky’s smile widened as he noted the desire and the decision in her eyes. He was pleased to find her so conducive to staying after all. He wanted her to stay for her private show. “Go sit on the side of the bed and wait for me,” he instructed.
Giada quickly obeyed him in silence.
Seeing Giada so compliant to him, Kentucky determined within himself to give her the best show ever. He just hoped he remembered everything. It had been nearly ten years since he did anything like this.
“Turn the TV off for me, baby,” Kentucky directed gently as he turned to make sure the right CD was in the stereo. It was time for his show to begin.
* * * *
Giada fumbled with the television remote, but she finally got her designated task done. Her hands might not have been so shaky had she not just gotten a glimpse of the back of Kentucky’s loincloth when he turned toward the stereo. Now she trembled all over with need. In short, there was no back to the loincloth. There was only a string around Kentucky’s waist holding the thing up and on.
Fine.
Fine.
And yet more fine was her man.
After pressing play on the stereo, Kentucky clapped his hands together to brighten the lights in the room. Soon a slow tune by Marques Houston filled the air.
Giada inhaled sharply at being able to see his shiny body in more detail. She crossed her legs to squeeze out some of the ache. Yet she couldn’t squeeze hard enough t
o stop the ache Kentucky caused by dancing over to her in the most sensual of ways.
“I never danced to fast music because I deemed that more for the feminine guys,” he said, moving slow and erotic. “I never did any rump-shaking for the same reason. The only bouncing I did was this,” Kentucky added, causing his chest muscles to bounce one at a time as he flexed them.
Giada licked her lips. She was ready to attack him on the spot.
“Not yet, baby. Let me give you this treat,” Kentucky said, as if he could read her mind. “Just keep talking to me. It’ll help keep your temperature down until it’s the right time.”
Giada nodded and forced herself to stay in her place. When he finally stood directly in front of her, she asked, “Can I touch you? I heard somewhere that strippers had a policy of no touching.”
“You can touch me all you want, baby. Not only because I’m your man, but also because I am a man, period. That no-touching policy is usually just for female dancers due to the risk of physical abuse or violence by their patrons. The same risks don’t really exist for male dancers. Plus, the touching seems to help them get bigger tips.” Kentucky grinned. “I know it did for me.”
Giada felt her nostrils flare with ire. “I’m glad you gave that life up. If not, I would probably have a police record a mile long fighting those heifers off you.”
Kentucky chuckled. “Calm down, firecat.” He gyrated closer to her. “Besides, I thought you wanted to touch me.”
Giada felt heat gather in her cheeks. In her ire, she forgot all about her desire. Now it was back in full force. “Like this, baby?” she asked, reaching up to touch his chest.
“Yes.” Kentucky moaned, still moving in time to the music. “Now go lower, baby. Much lower.”
Giada gave him a mischievous smile. Then she moved her hands lower . . . and around, cupping his bottom instead of where he really wanted to be touched.
All words were abandoned for the moment as Kentucky nodded and prepared to respond to that unspoken challenge. He moved closer, placing her in direct eye view of his precious jewel.
Giada pretended she didn’t see it as she concentrated on kneading his strong gluteal muscles. Her hands moved in perfect timing to his hips.
Kentucky simply grinned and began to demonstrate his control over muscles few men could master. His hips continued to move sensually the whole time.
“Wh . . . ?” Giada blinked to make sure she’d seen what she thought she just saw. When his wand waved in a circular motion in front of her face again, she blinked once more in amazement.
Did this man have her under some kind of spell?
“How did you . . . ? Wow! Do that again!” Giada said when it happened for the third time.
Kentucky chuckled in triumph. “I will, but only if you touch me first. And you know exactly where, too.”
Giada finally did as he requested. She soon found her hand being moved in that same circular motion as Kentucky honored her request as well.
Aching for real now, Giada moaned loudly.
Kentucky moaned, too, as she squeezed him from base to tip. “Okay, one more trick and then I have to have you,” he said huskily.
“Yes, baby.” Giada nodded eagerly. She was ready to be had.
* * * *
“Lay on the floor on your back,” Kentucky said, aching now himself. He’d been able to maintain his calm until she squeezed him in her own special way. He sighed in relief when she released him to comply with his latest request.
Standing above Giada a few seconds later with his legs on both sides of her body and his back to her, Kentucky lifted her legs and slowly pulled them both over her head. He took backwards steps as he did. Moaning at the revealing view of her garden that action produced, he relished the sight of her hidden river already threatening to overflow its banks. He couldn’t wait to take a dip in it.
“You all right down there?” Kentucky asked, settling his thighs lightly upon the backs of her ankles. He balanced the majority of his weight upon his legs.
“Yes,” Giada replied in a tone that told him that she trusted him completely even though she had no idea what he was about to do. “I’m just so grateful for all those yoga exercises I do on a regular basis.”
“Me, too,” Kentucky replied and then proceeded to show her exactly what he had in mind.
Still in the same position, he reached over to caress the backs of Giada’s smooth thighs. His gently kneading and squeezing hands continued to move toward her garden. Sending one hand farther up to her bottom, he allowed the other hand to linger in her trimmed meadow.
Giada purred as he began to erotically stroke her in two places with those large hands of his. When he bent to taste her in that position, her body shuddered. She began to tremble with release.
Realizing how close she was to climaxing, Kentucky rose to a semi-standing position and then did the most amazing thing. He grabbed her bottom firmly with both hands, used it for leverage and flipped her over until she was on her hands and knees with him right behind her.
* * * *
Giada lost all her bearings after being flipped.
Kentucky didn’t give her a chance to get them back as he quickly joined her to the hilt and began to stroke her in a different way now, with something other than his hands. Each stroke was rhythmic, steady, and with the right amount of force behind it.
“Oh, Kenny,” Giada said as heat radiated from the top of her head down to the soles of her feet. When she went over the edge a few seconds later, she finally understood what it meant to make mad, passionate love, emphasis on the mad part.
Either Giada had lost her mind or she was having an out-of-body experience because her eyes had ceased to see the eggshell-colored wall in front of her. No, they seemed to be looking into the future, far into the future.
Giada saw her and Kentucky gray-haired and sitting next to each other at a long table. Around them in the other chairs were their four adult children and their spouses. The two male children were tall, fair, and muscular like their father, but with most of Giada’s facial features and thick, wavy hair. The two female children were short like Giada, but their hair was brown like their father’s. They also had her facial features.
There were at least ten grandchildren. The youngest sat in a high chair next to a wrinkle-faced woman who couldn’t have been anyone but Kentucky’s stepmother based on the lively twinkle in her eyes. They were all laughing and smiling, obviously very happy.
Suddenly Giada was back in the present. Kentucky was still stroking her, her body was still trembling with release, and she was still in awe of his ability to love her clear into the future.
Humbled by this whole experience, joyful tears began to roll down Giada’s cheeks. She began to repeatedly mutter how much she loved him. Her walls clenched and pulled his seed from his loins, even though that day of fruition wouldn’t be for several years to come.
“I love you, too,” Kentucky said, shifting their bodies on the floor until she was in his lap. He held her close to him as she sobbed with happiness.
Giada relished his tenderness. When she was calmer, they disengaged and went into the bathroom for round two. The music was long forgotten as the lovers continued to seal the bond between them tighter than ever.
Chapter Twenty
Giada could barely concentrate at work the next day. She kept thinking about Kentucky’s private show, about all the tricks he’d done, and about that open-eye vision she’d had of their future.
Giada also thought about the business idea Kentucky talked about later in bed last night. How she should open up a specialty gift business that supplied Debutante Boxes to public and private schools. He even volunteered to help her write a business plan.
I’ll think I’ll call my company Pretty Packages. Giada recalled Kentucky using that phrase once upon a time. He’d used it to refer to men with pretty faces and fat wallets. She thought the phrase was more appropriate to serve as a reminder of what not to look for when it came to peo
ple, but only when it came to shopping.
I can’t wait to call Kenny and let him know my decision. So deep in her thoughts, Giada barely noticed the lawyer standing in front of her desk addressing her at that very moment.
“I’m sorry, sir. What was it you wanted again?” Giada asked, blinking to refocus.
The look in the gray-haired man’s eyes said, “I want you,” but with sexual harassment suits abounding in the land, Mr. Kerrigan said the second thing he wanted instead. “Have you finished conducting that research on the Nash case?”
“No, sir, I haven’t. But if you give me a little bit more time, I should have it done before the end of the day,” Giada replied, giving him a charming smile.
Mr. Kerrigan blushed. “Take your time, Giada.” He smiled before hurrying away to regain his composure.
Giada’s less attractive coworker, Velicity, scowled at her in protest of the clear favoritism that she’d just been shown. Someone else would have gotten reprimanded for being lax in his or her work.
Jealous heifer! Giada seethed, using that as additional confirmation to explain why she didn’t have or want any female friends her own age. They were too competitive, too prone to jealousy.
To show Velicity that she was more than just a pretty face, Giada reluctantly pushed all thoughts of Kentucky to the side. Then she put her focus solely upon her work and was able to get everything done before the end of the day.
It gave her great satisfaction to see Velicity’s look of shock when Mr. Kerrigan praised her diligent efforts and rewarded her with two tickets to the opera. That satisfaction was even better than the day she walked into the office wearing her engagement ring.
Giada couldn’t wait to share today’s good news with Kentucky. She also couldn’t wait to tell him that she wanted to marry him now, not later. She wanted to tell him that she didn’t care how much money he had. That all she wanted was to lie in his arms every night and know that only she had title deed to do so.
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